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THE 



AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 

HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



A COMPLETE AND CONCISE ACCOUNT OF THE GROWTH AND DEVELOP- 
MENT OP THE COUNTRY FROM ITS DISCOVERY TO THE PRESENT 
TIME. VHTH CHAPTERS UPON THE CUSTOMS AND 
MANNERS OF THE VARIOUS PERIODS. 



OVER 60 ILLUSTRATIONS. 



BY 

EVEEIT BROWN, 



SEP 10 1881 '» 



'k 



FROM 

AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 

751 BROADWAY, KEW YORK. 

1887//?rC*J 



Entered, accoraing to Act of Congress, in the year 1886, by 

DAVID W. JUDD, 
In the OfBce of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



3n 



Preface. 



The following pages tell the story of United States 
history from the days when this land was tenanted 
only by beasts and barbarians to the present year. 
The intention and endeavor of the author has been 
to omit no important fact, no incident that marked 
or assisted the development of the nation during the 
whole of this time. To accomplish this result within 
the moderate compass of a single volume, it was 
necessary that no superfluous words or flights of 
fancy should be indulged in. Hence this book will 
be found a plain presentation of the facts. 

It need hardly be said that great care has been ex- 
ercised to obtain exact statements of fact. In the 
earlier and more obscure portions of our history and 
concerning troublous and confused times, such as the 
Civil War, considerable divergence is found among 
the authorities as to dates and figures. In such cases 
the author has given the preference to the most con- 
sistent and reasonable statements, but where the 
truth has been accessible to search he has endeavored 
to find it. 

To write an impartial history of any country is a 
difficult task; to write without prejudice of one's 
own country is well-nigh impossible. Political strife, 
religious animosities, sectional differences, all com- 
bine to prevent the historian from writing the color- 
less truth and also to prevent the reader from agree- 
ing with his statements. Nevertheless, the author of 



6 PREFACE. 

this book has honestly endeavored to give facts as 
they are without bending them to any purpose of his 
own. In the account of the slavery agitation and of 
the great Civil War which was the outcome of that 
controversy, he has been especially careful to give 
the prominent facts on both sides of the question, 
concealing nothing on the one side and setting down 
naught in malice against the other. That deadly 
struggle is too recent in our minds and raised too 
many bitter feelings in this land to be recounted im- 
partially without the strictest control of the pen. 

While it has been the main purpose of the author 
to give the facts without attempting to enforce his 
own interpretation of them, he has by no means 
neglected the sequence of events and the philosophy 
of history. The causes and results of wars and other 
great crises have been carefully pointed out, and the 
story of our country has been given in orderly suc- 
cession from beginning to end. The six periods of 
this book are those into which our history naturally 
divides itself, and they need no further explanation 
than that which they receive in the following pages. 

Every help for ready reference has been furnished 
to the reader in the outline of contents which heads 
each chapter and in the carefully prepared index. 

The author now submits his work to the public 
with the hope that it will be found as he intended it — 
a straightforward, complete, accurate, concise, and 
impartial history of a great and a free people. 

E. B. 

New York, 1886. 



CONTENTS. 

FIRST PERIOD. 

Discovery and Exploration. 

CHAPTER I. rAGE 

The Indians 19 

CHAPTER n. 
The Norsemen 27 

CHAPTER HI. 
Columbus and the Cabots 30 

CHAPTER IV. 
Spanish Explorations ':; 

CHAPTER V. 
French Explorations i,,i 

CHAPTER VI. 
English Explorations 62 

CHAPTER VII. 
Dutch Explorations 69 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Review of the First Period 72 



8 CONTENTS. 

SECOND PERIOD. 
Settlement and Growth. 

CHAPTER IX. PAGE 

Virginia under the First Charter 79 

CHAPTER X. 
Virginia under the Second and Third Charters 87 

CHAPTER XI. 
Virginia a Royal Province 94 

CHAPTER XII. 
Massachusetts — Plymouth Colony 103 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Massachusetts Bay Colony and the New Engl-and Union hi 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Massachusetts — King Philip's War and Andros 121 

CHAPTER XV. 
Massachusetts — Wars and Witchcraft 127 

CHAPTER XVI. 
New York under the Dutch 136 

CHAPTER XVII. 
New York under the English 143 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
Connecticut 152 

CHAPTER XIX. 
Rhode Island 159 

CHAPTER XX. 
New Hampshire 163 



CONTENTS. 9 

CHAPTER XXI. PAGE 

New Jersey 167 

CHAPTER XXn. 
Pennsylvania 172 

CHAPTER XXin. 
Maryland 177 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
North Carolina 183 

CHAPTER XXV. 
South Carolina 188 

CHAPTER XXVI. 
Georgia 194 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
The French and Indian War — Causes and Commence- 
ment 199 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 
The French and Indian War — Events of 1755 206 

CHAPTER XXIX. 
The French and Indian War — Two Years of Disaster. . 212 

CHAPTER XXX. 
The French and Indian War — Successes and Peace 216 

CHAPTER XXXI. 
Condition of the Colonies 225 



lo CONTENTS. 

THIRD PERIOD. 
Independence and Union. 

CHAPTER XXXII. , page 

Causes of the Revolution 235 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 
The Revolution — 1775 246 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 
The Revolution — 1776 — Independence 257 

CHAPTER XXXV. 
The Revolution — 1777 268 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 
The Revolution — 1778 279 

CHAPTER XXXVH. 
The Revolution — 1 779 284 

CHAPTER XXXVHI. 
The Revolution — 1780 291 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 
Close of the Revolution — 1781-1783 297 

CHAPTER XL. 
Formation of the Constitution 309 

FO UR TH PERIOD. 

Development and Prosperity. 

CHAPTER XLI. 
Washington's Administration — 1789-1797 317 



COA'TEN-TS. II 

CHAPTER XLII. ,>agb 

Adams' Administration — 1797-1801 324 

CHAPTER XLHI. 
Jefferson's Administration — 1 801-1809 329 

CHAPTER XLIV. 
Madison's Administration — 1809-1817 — The War of 1812 

Commenced 337 

CHAPTER XLV. 
Madison's Administration— Continued— Events of 1813. 345 

CHAPTER XLVI. 
Madison's Administration — Concluded — Close of the 

War 352 

CHAPTER XLVn. 
Monroe's Administration— 1817-1825 361 

CHAPTER XLVHI. 
John Quincy Adams' Administration — 1825-1829 367 

CHAPTER XLIX. 
Jackson's Administration — 1829-1837 371 

CHAPTER L. 
Van Buren's Administration — 1837-1841 378 

CHAPTER LI. 

Administrations of Harrison and Tyler — 1841-1845 3S3 

CHAPTER UI. 
Polk's Administration — 1845-1849 — The Mexican War. . 391 

CHAPTER LHI. 
Administrations of Taylor and Fillmore — 1849-1853 — 403 



12 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER LIV. page 

Pierce's Administration — 1853-1857 409 

CHAPTER LV. 
Buchanan's Administration — 1857-1861 415 

FIFTH PERIOD. 
Civil War and Emancipation. 

CHAPTER LVI. 
Causes of the Civil War 427 

CHAPTER LVII. 
Lincoln's Administration — 1861-1865 — The Civil War — 

1861 434 

CHAPTER LVin. 
Lincoln's Administration — Continued — The Civil War — 

1862 : 444 

CHAPTER LIX. 
Lincoln's Administration — Continued — The Civil War — 

1863 — Emancipation 456 

CHAPTER LX. 
Lincoln's Administration — Continued — The Civil War — 

1864 466 

CHAPTER LXL 
Lincoln's Administration — Concluded — Close of the 

Civil War — 1865 479 



CONTENTS. 13 

SIXTH PERIOD. 
Reconstruction and Peace. 

CHAPTER LXII. page 

Johnson's Administration — 1 865-1 869 491 

CHAPTER LXni. 
Grant's Administration — 1869-1877 498 

CHAPTER LXIV. 
Hayes' Administration — 1877-1881 506 

CHAPTER LXV. 

Administrations of Garfield and Arthur — 1S81-1885. . . 512 

CHAPTER LXVI. 

Cleveland's Administration — 1885 and 1886 521 

CHAPTER LXVH. 
Conclusion 526 



APPENDIX. 

APPENDIX A. 
The Social Compact Signed in the Cabin of the " May- 
flower," 1620 iii 

APPENDIX B. 
The Declaration of Independence iv 

APPENDIX C. 
Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union ix 



14 CONTENTS. 

APPENDIX D. PAGE 

The Constitution of the United States of America . . xvii 

APPENDIX E. 
The Farewell Address of George Washington xxxiv 

APPENDIX F. 
Proclamation of Emancipation xlviii 

APPENDIX G. 
Chronological Summary of United States History. . . 1 

APPENDIX H. 
The States of the Union Iviii 

APPENDIX I. 
Presidents and Vice-Presidents of the United States. Ix 

APPENDIX J. 
Census Table Ixi 



• List of Illustrations, 



PAGE 

Landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock Frontispiece 

The Ancient Tower at Newport 28 

Columbus 32 

Columbus Discovering Land 35 

John Smith 82 

Pocahontas 84 

Plymouth Rock 107 

The First Church Erected in Connecticut. Hartford, 1638.. 153 

The Charter Oak 157 

William Penn 1 73 

A Fortified House 213 

The Stocks 227 

A Wedding-Journey 229 

Lantern in Old North Church Giving Notice to Paul Revere 246 

Putnam Leaves Farming for Fighting 247 

Putnam Entering the Wolf's Den 249 

Israel Putnam 251 

The Old Elm-Tree at Cambridge 253 

Map of the Battle of Bunker Hill 255 

Liberty Bell 261 

Washington Crossing the Delaware 265 

Marquis de Lafayette 271 

Benjamin Franklin 2S0 

Putnam Escapes the British , 287 

Corn wallis 303 

Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown 305 

George Washington 319 

John Adams 325 

Thomas Jefferson .' 331 



1 6 LIST OF ILLUS TEA TION S. 

PAGE 

James Madison 339 

James Monroe 363 

John Quincy Adams 369 

Andrew Jackson 373 

First Railroad Train in the United States 377 

Martin Van Buren 379 

William Henry Harrison 384 

John Tyler 3S5 

Bunker Hill Monument 388 

James K. Polk 393 

General Winfield Scott 397 

Zachary Taylor 404 

Millard Fillmore 405 

Daniel Webster 407 

Franklin Pierce 411 

James Buchanan 417 

Jefferson Davis 421 

Fort Sumter 422 

Abraham Lincoln 435 

Lincoln's Early Home in Illinois 437 

Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor 439 

Naval Duel between the A/ofiifor and the Mcrrimac 449 

General Robert E. Lee 459 

General W. T. Sherman . 469 

Grant's Campaign Around Richmond 472 

General Philip H. Sheridan 473 

Sheridan's Arrival at Cedar Creek 475 

Sinking the Alabat/ia 477 

Lee and Grant Signing the Terms of Surrender 481 

Assassination of President Lincoln 484 

Tomb of Abraham Lincoln at Springfield. Illinois 485 

Andrew Johnson 493 

Ulysses S. Grant 499 

Rutherford B. Hayes 507 

James A. Garfield 513 

Chester A. Arthur 517 

Grover Cleveland " 523 



First Period, 



Discovery and Exploration. 



FIRST PERIOD. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE INDIANS. 

Their name — Origin — Physical characteristics — Nature — Occupa- 
tions and amusements — Tobacco — Liquor — Position of the 
women — Marriage — Habitations — Agriculture — Tools and 
weapons — Dress — Decorations — Laws and government — The 
' ' medicine - man " — Religion — Language — Distribution of 
tribes — The conflict of the "pale-face" and the red man — 
The Mound Builders — Description and possible uses of the 
mounds — Ruins in Arizona — Height of civilization reached in 
Mexico, Central America, and Peru. 

When the Spanish discovered America in the latter 
part of the fifteenth century, they found the country 
inhabited by a barbarous, or at best a semi-civilized 
race. Columbus, thinking that he had reached the 
islands of India, for which he had set sail, called the 
natives Indians^ and by that name they have ever since 
been known. 

The widely scattered tribes, though differing in 
appearance and customs, were undoubtedly descended 
from a common ancestry. What that ancestry was 
is an unsettled question, and many speculations have 
been indulged in regarding it. It has even been sug- 
gested that the Indians were the descendants of the 
Ten Tribes of Israel. Others hold that the Old 
World was peopled by wanderers from America, the 



20 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

original starting-place of the human race. But it 
seems more likely that emigration flowed in the op- 
posite direction, though we cannot tell just how the 
first emigrants crossed into this continent. A plausi- 
ble supposition is that Africans or Europeans drifted 
or sailed across the Atlantic and became the progeni- 
tors of the Indians. The most probable theory of 
all, however, maintains that Asiatic races found their 
way into America, perhaps across Behring's Straits, 
and in the course of centuries spread over the whole 
Western Hemisphere. There are certain similarities 
between the Indian and Mongolian races that lend 
support to this position. 

The Indian tribes that covered the present terri- 
tory of the United States had more resemblance for 
each other than for the Esquimaux in the extreme 
north or the Mexican Indians in the south. They 
were of average height, and had brown complexions, 
dark eyes, full lips, prominent noses, high cheek- 
bones, and long, straight, black hair. They were 
sinewy of muscle, active in movement, and were capa- 
ble of much endurance, though rather from constant 
practice and necessity than from constitution. 

In peace the Indian was indolent, haughty, and 
taciturn, using terse though figurative language. In 
war or the chase he was alert, active, and persistent. 
He was vindictive to those who had injured him but 
steadfastly loyal to his friends. It has been said that 
an Indian never forgave an offense or forgot a kind- 
ness. He fought in small bands of warriors and 
sought victory by surprise and treachery. His cruelty 
in war spared neither age nor sex, unless to reserve 
some victims for the tortures which he delighted to 
witness. He was brave and stoical in the extreme, 
often testing his disregard of pain by the severest 
self-inflicted injuries. The warrior was no more than 
a coward who flinched under the tortures of his ene- 



THE INDIANS. 21 

mies or failed to fling taunt and defiance in their 
faces even while he burned at the stake. 

The men devoted their principal energies to hunt- 
ing, fishing, and warfare. Each tribe was engaged 
in almost incessant war with neighboring tribes who 
had offended some of its members or invaded its 
hunting-grounds, which were guarded with jealous 
care. When not engaged in these pursuits, the war- 
riors prepared their weapons for fresh use, indulged 
in athletic sports, dancing, gambling, and games of 
ball, or else idled away their time. The dancing was 
engaged in chiefly by the men, who wrought them- 
selves into a state of frenzy as they whirled round 
and round. The war-dance was a horrible sight to 
behold, and even the dances on more peaceful occa- 
sions were wild and frantic. The Indians smoked 
tobacco constantly, and when the Europeans intro- 
duced liquor, or " fire-water " as they called it, among 
them, they indulged to excess whenever they could 
procure it. The drudgery of work was left to the 
women, who cultivated the small crop of maize, 
gathered acorns, made pottery and baskets, wove to 
some extent, and cooked the food. 

Polygamy was allowed among the Indians, but it 
was not common among the northern tribes. Mar- 
riages were made at a youthful period, and the cere- 
mony often consisted in nothing more than the maiden 
presenting the young warrior with an armful of fuel 
and a dish of food. Near relations were not admitted 
to wedlock with each other. 

The Indians lived for the most part in tents, or 
*' wigwams," made of poles covered with bark or skins. 
They frequently changed their abode to secure more 
game or fuel. Some of the more advanced and settled 
tribes, however, built large wigwams capable of cov- 
ering several families. When a lengthy stay in any 
place was intended, the group of wigwams was in- 



22 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

closed by a palisade for defense. But most of the 
tribes paid slight attention to agriculture and roved 
from place to place. The chief object of tilling the 
soil was to raise Indian corn, or maize. The women, 
or "squaws," scratched the ground with a crooked 
stick for a plow and cultivated the crop with the same 
implement or a clam-shell hoe. 

Their other tools were as rude as these. The only- 
metals which they knew or could employ were gold, 
silver, or copper, and their knowledge of these metals 
depended on the part of the country which they in- 
habited. Copper, of course, was the only one of prac- 
tical use, and the few implements made of it which 
they possessed were highly prized. Wood and stone 
were the materials chiefly used, and the latter was 
with much labor rudely worked into the desired 
shapes. Their weapons were the shield, the spear, the 
hatchet or " tomahawk," the bow and arrow, the war- 
club, and the knife. In the use of these they attained 
marvelous facility. They could hurl the spear and 
throw the tomahawk and knife with the greatest ac- 
curacy for many yards. Their arrows were tipped 
with flint or bone and were shot with deadly force and 
precision. The western Indians could send an arrow 
clear through the bulky body of a buffalo. Canoes 
were roughly fashioned from trunks of trees or skill- 
fully constructed of bark, and they made snow-shoes 
for walking on the soft snow in winter. 

Dress differed with the climate and the season, and 
when the weather permitted was reduced to small 
extent. Skins, carefully prepared, supplied most of 
the material, but some had rudely woven blankets and 
other articles. The head-dress differed among the 
many tribes. Painting the body and face was a 
universal custom. In war they made themselves ex- 
tremely hideous by the use of various pigments, with 
blue, black, and especially vermilion. They were ex- 



THE INDIANS. 23 

ceedingly fond of ornaments and wore rings in their 
ears, with bracelets, necklaces, and other decorations. 
The scalps of conquered enemies hung in their wig- 
wams or were strung around the warrior's body. 

The Indians had no laws, properly speaking. Each 
one followed his own desires except as modified by 
his fear or the necessity of cooperation with others. 
Each tribe had its chief, or sachem, who held his place 
by virtue of his prowess and personal influence, heredi- 
tary chiefs being seldom known. By the will of the 
sachem they were largely guided, but he was far from 
holding autocratic power. Sometimes a man like 
King Philip, or Tecumseh of later times, would arise 
who by his genius and ability gained an influence in 
other tribes than his own and made alliances with 
them, but such men were rare. 

The *' medicine-man " was a striking figure among 
the Indians. He occupied a sacred position, and was 
regarded with fear and awe as combining in his per- 
son the knowledge and authority of physician, prophet, 
priest, and magician. 

The religion of the Indians was exceedingly un- 
developed. They seem to have believed in a Great 
Spirit, good and powerful, who ruled the world, 
though eminent authorities have denied that they held 
such a faith. At any rate their conception of a Su- 
preme Being was extremely rude, and the extent and 
character of their reverence toward Him has been 
much overstated. They had, however, a firm belief 
in good and bad spirits and were careful to propitiate 
them with gifts and sacrifices. Few tribes had any- 
thing like temples in which to worship. They be- 
lieved in the life of the soul after death, but they 
imagined that the spirits of the departed passed a life 
much the same as the one they had left on earth, and 
they were careful to place near the bodies of their de- 
parted friends food, water, and the weapons of the 
warrior. 



24 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The language of the Indians was divided into as 
many dialects as there were tribes. These dialects 
resembled each other to a considerable extent, but can 
hardly be compared with the language of any other 
people. Even between themselves there was so much 
dissimilarity that one tribe was often unable to under- 
stand the dialect of another. It was a language of 
monosyllables, each word expressing some definite 
but narrow meaning. They had no abstract or gen- 
eral words. There was, for instance, no word " to 
hunt," but there were words to describe each kind of 
hunting, as " to- kill-a-deer-with-an-arrow." They 
often joined together a long string of monosyllables 
which formed a description of the thing they wished 
to express. They had no knowledge of writing as we 
know it, but could express much by their system of 
picture-writing or hieroglyphics. The history of past 
events was handed from generation to generation by 
word of mouth or sometimes represented by rude 
figures scratched on bark or rocks. 

The various nations of the aborigines at the time of 
the settlement of America covered pretty clearly 
marked districts of the country. The larger part of 
the territory east of the Mississippi and northward 
from Cape Fear was occupied by the family of the 
Algonquins. It was with these Indians that the early 
settlers came most in contact. The northern and 
central portion of this district was covered by the 
Huron-Iroquois, who spread over a large part of the 
country that now comprises the states of New York, 
Pennsylvania, and Ohio. They embraced, among 
others, the nations of the Senecas, Cayugas, Onon- 
dagas, Oneidas, and Mohawks, who together formed 
the great and much-dreaded confederacy known as 
the '' Five Nations." Among these the Mohawks were 
especially noted for their power and ferocity. 

South of the Algonquins were the Cherokees, 



THE INDIANS, 25 

and further south, extending from the Mississippi to 
the Atlantic, were the Mobilians, who included the 
Creeks in Georgia and the Seminoles in Florida. 

The Dakotas covered the vast territory between the 
Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi from the Ar- 
kansas River northward. Over our state of Texas 
roved the wild and blood-thirsty Comanches, and west 
of the Rocky Mountains were various nations known 
as the Selish, the Klamaths, the Shoshones, and the 
Californians. Mexico was occupied by the Aztecs and 
Toltecs, the most highly civilized and least warlike of 
the North American Indians. 

As a rule the southern Indians were more civilized 
than those at the north. They devoted more attention 
to agriculture, built houses and towns, and were more 
peaceful. But all were gradually driven back before 
the superior prowess and civilization of the pale-face. 
Further and further west have they fled, till now 
there are but few east of the Mississippi, West of 
that great dividing line of our country the Govern- 
ment has allotted reservations to the different tribes 
in the Indian Territory and elsewhere. Some of these 
tribes are quite peaceful and seem to have lost in 
large measure their old lawlessness, but others still 
break their bounds occasionally and show their na- 
tional temper in pillage and massacre, till our troops 
force them once more into submission to law. 

Many curious remains in various parts of the coun- 
try, but chiefly in the valleys of the Ohio and Mis- 
sissippi, give rise to the belief, not absolutely proven 
as yet, however, that the continent was in past ages 
peopled by a race of superior civilization to the In- 
dians who displaced them. This supposed early race 
are known as the Mound Builders because of the 
strange earthworks which they constructed. Some of 
these seem to have been designed as fortifications and 
crown the summits of natural or artificial elevations. 



26 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Others were apparently intended for religious cere- 
monies or merely as monuments to the dead. They 
are often built in the shape of serpents, of men, or of 
animals, and many of them cover large areas of 
ground. 

One of the most remarkable of these earthworks is 
situated in Adams County, Ohio. It is known as the 
"Great Serpent," from its resemblance to a serpent in 
the act of swallowing an Q_gg. It extends for i,ooo 
feet along the ridge of a hill. The outline is formed 
by an embankment about five feet in height and 
twenty feet wide at the base. The largest of the 
mounds is on the Mississippi opposite St. Louis. It 
covers twelve acres and is about loo feet in height. 

Some of these mounds have been opened and they 
have been found to contain skeletons, with weapons, 
tools, pottery, ornaments, and woven fabrics that in- 
dicate considerable skill in manufacture. In Arizona, 
moreover, are ruins of substantial houses, aqueducts, 
and fortifications that prove the existence there at one 
time of a people well advanced in civilization. And 
in the same region are innumerable cavities in the 
cliffs, extensive and carefully constructed, where this 
people seem to have fled before some enemy. 

In Mexico, Central America, and still more in Peru, 
are found the remains, many of them well preserved, 
of large and magnificent temples, strong fortifica- 
tions, and vast aqueducts and bridges. In these parts 
of America the ancient civilization reached a height 
that immeasurably surpassed the condition of the 
Indians and is not to be despised even from our ad- 
vanced stand-point. But we know little, and can hope 
to know little, of the history and the customs, the 
greatness and the decline of these nations that flour- 
ished while Europe was in the dark ages, or perhaps 
even while Rome was the mistress of the world. 



THE NORSEMEN, 27 



CHAPTER II. 



THE NORSEMEN. 



Ancient tradition of Atlantis — Mediaeval myths of St. Brandan* 
and the Island of the Seven Cities — The Norsemen — Herjulf- 
son discovers America — Lief winters in New England — Thorn- 
finn Karlsefne explores the coast — Snorre — No permanent re- 
sults of Norse discoveries — Stone tower at Newport — Igno- 
rance of the discovery of a new continent. 

Far back among the mists of antiquity there were 
dim traditions of a land of beauty and plenty that lay 
to the west of Europe. Plato names this vague place 
Atlantis, and asserts that the knowledge of it came 
from the Egyptians. 

In the middle ages many believed that a terrestrial 
paradise existed on the other side of the globe. 
Mythical islands named St. Brandan and the Island 
of the Seven Cities were actually laid down on the 
maps to the west and north of the Canary and Ma- 
deira Islands. It was asserted that these had been 
visited, and expeditions were sent out even as late as 
1721 to search for St. Brandan. 

How far America or the West Indies formed the 
basis of these legends it is impossible to tell. It may 
be that mariners had been driven by storms to these 
shores or had ventured far enough to see them. But 
we tread here on very unsubstantial ground. 

It is not till near the close of the tenth century of 
the Christian era that we come upon a tolerably cer- 
tain account of the discovery of America by the 
Norsemen. There never was a people more fond of 
the sea and its dangers, more hardy in combating 



28 



HISTOR Y OF THE UNITED STA TES. 



them, more venturesome and persistent in their voy- 
ages, than the race who inhabited the Scandinavian 
peninsula and Iceland. They roved everywhere over 
the North Sea and the northern Atlantic, making 
sudden landings on the coasts when they attacked 
villages and plundered the people. They settled in 
France, and Normandy was named from its conquer- 
ors. They overran England, established themselves 
^or a while in power there, and after William the 
Conqueror the English monarchs were descendants 

of the old Vikings. 

From the Icelandic sa- 
gas, or legends, we learn 
that in the year 986 a sail- 
or named Herjulfson was 
driven by a storm down 
to and along the coast of 
Newfoundland, or Labra- 
dor, but he did not touch 
the shore. Excited by the 
stories brought back from 
this voyage, a venture- 
some mariner, named Lief, 
sailed to the westward and 
reached Labrador in looi. 
He coasted southward at 
least as far as the shores 
of New England, which he called Vinland. There 
he passed the winter. In 1007 Thornfinn Karlsefne 
reached the shore of Massachusetts and spent three 
winters, exploring the coast far southward. A son, 
named Snorre, was born to him there who is supposed 
to be the first child born in this country of European 
parents. 

Other adventurers came to the new land but no 
permanent settlement was made, and after a while 
the memory of their discoveries almost died out 




THE ANCIENT TOWER AT NEWPORT. 



THE NORSEMEN. 



29 



among the Norsemen. They left few, if any, relics 
of their visits. An old stone tower which is still 
standing in Newport, Rhode Island, is thought by 
many to be the work of their hands, but others have 
shown a similarity between this tower and others 
still standing in England, and conclude that it was 
built for a windmill by the English settlers. His- 
torically, therefore, its origin is in doubt, but Long- 
fellow's charmingballad of *' The Skeleton in Armor,", 
which refers to this structure and to a skeleton found 
at Fall River, Massachusetts, will always cause it to 
be associated in our minds wuth the Vikings. 

The Norsemen, however, never knew that they had 
discovered a new continent. They thought the 
shores they visited were only a part of Greenland 
hitherto unknown, and history dates some centuries 
later the discovery of America, that was to open a new 
era for mankind. 



30 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 



CHAPTER III. 

COLUMBUS AND THE CABOTS. 

Christopher Columbus — Early life — Popular and scientific beliefs 
concerning the roundness of the earth — The fifteenth centu- 
ry — The eastern trade — Missionary spirit — Columbus seeks 
aid in Genoa — In Portugal — In Spain — Hardships and de- 
lays — Success with Ferdinand and Isabella — First voyage — 
America discovered — Honors to Columbus — Second voyage — 
A colony planted — Third voyage — The main-land discov- 
ered — Arrested and released — Vasco da Gama sails around 
the Cape of Good Hope — Fourth voyage of Columbus — Suf- 
ferings and death — Amerigo Vespucci — John Cabot discovers 
Labrador — Sebastian Cabot explores the American coast — 
His subsequent life — The first to recognize that a new conti- 
nent had been discovered. 

It is to the daring, the courage, the untiring energy, 
and the practical genius of one man that the world 
owes the real discovery of America. That man was 
Christopher Columbus. 

Born in Genoa, Italy, or possibly, as recent dis- 
coveries seem to indicate, in the Island of Corsica, 
which was then held by Genoa, in the first half of the 
fifteenth century, Columbus received a good education 
that embraced geometry, astronomy, and geography, 
though he was of a humble social station. He passed 
his youth and early manhood on the sea, engaged in 
the commercial voyages and maritime warfare of the 
Mediterranean, sailed as far south on the Atlantic 
as the coast of Guinea, and showed his adventurous 
spirit by a voyage that extended a hundred leagues 
beyond Iceland in the extreme north. But the seas 
of the world which were then known did not furnish 



COLUMBUS AND THE CABOTS. 



3^ 



sufficient material to satisfy his active mind, and he 
gradually conceived the grander attempt that was 
finally accomplished and was destined to revolution- 
ize the world. 

Columbus, however, was by no means the first to 
suggest that the world was round. Previous to his 
age, and even during his life, it was the common notion 
that the world was a vast plain, but from time to time 
astronomers and geographers had asserted the con- 
trary. 

As far back as seven centuries before Christ, a theory 
was advanced that the earth was of cylindrical form. 
In the third century before Christ a learned geog- 
rapher, Eratosthenes, declared that the earth was a 
sphere. Again, in the second century of the Christian 
era, Ptolemy, who founded a system of astronomy 
that lasted till Copernicus provided a better in the 
sixteenth century, used sound reasoning to prove the 
same conclusion. Sir John Mandeville also, the great 
English traveler, in the account of his travels an- 
nounced the same opinion in the century preceding 
that of Columbus. 

These views were now held by many geographers. 
The art of printing was beginning to diffuse knowl- 
edge more widely than had hitherto been possible. 
By means of books and personal contact with these 
geographers Columbus adopted their opinions. 

Columbus grew to manhood in an age that sur- 
passed all previous ones in its commercial and mari- 
time spirit. The various nations of Europe, and espe- 
cially the powerful republics of Italy, carried on an 
extensive commerce with all parts of the known world. 
The trade with India and the East in precious stones, 
shawls, spices, and silks had grown to valuable pro- 
portions, and the states of Italy lying in the track of 
this traffic between Europe and Asia owed a large 
part of their prosperity to it. 



32 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The cargoes of merchandise were brought from the 
Oriental countries to the Red Sea, thence to the Nile, 
and from there to Europe — a journey that involved 
great expense and frequent reshipment and subject- 
ed the valuable goods to the mercy of robbers and 
pirates. Italy, moreover, besides the advantages of 
natural position, had gained a- supremacy and power 
on the Mediterranean that largely cut off the western 
nations of Europe from engaging directly in this 




COLUMBUS. 



profitable trade. If some other and more convenient 
route to the East could be found, this commerce would 
be greatly developed and its profits distributed more 
equally among the European nations. 

Nothing, we have seen, was known at this time of 
a continent to the west lying between Europe and 
Asia, and Asia was believed to extend much further 
eastward than we now know to be the case. More- 
over, though the true circumference of the earth had 



COLUMBUS A XD THE CABOT S. ^^-i^ 

been reached with some accuracy by the early geog- 
raphers we have already mentioned, Columbus did 
not believe that it exceeded 10,000 or 12,000 miles. It 
is not improbable, too, that on his voyage to Iceland 
he may have heard traditions of a land to the west- 
ward that confirmed his views. 

Here, then, was the solution of the problem. Sail 
westward, said Columbus, and the rich shores of 
Japan, Tartary, and India will be easily reached. 

Christianity was represented in Europe at this time 
almost exclusively by the Church of Rome. The last 
crusade to rescue Palestine from the control of the 
Mohammedans had been ended 200 years before, but 
the crusading spirit was not dead and Christians 
were still eager to convert the unbelieving by argu- 
ment, by torture, or by the sword. Columbus seems 
to have been no less stirred by the idea of bringing 
the millions of heathen whose countries he might 
reach to the true faith than by the hope of facilitating 
commerce. 

At any rate he had conceived a mighty project, and 
he now devoted his life to its realization. Being un- 
able to fit out an expedition on his own account, he 
first sought aid in the city of his birth, but met only 
with failure. He then left Genoa for Lisbon, where 
he came nearer to success, but finding at last that the 
King of Portugal would not grant his request, he sent 
his brother to England to represent his cause and he 
himself went to Spain. 

The rulers of Spain at this time were Ferdinand 
and Isabella, powerful monarchs and devoted to the in- 
terests of the Church of Rome. His petition to them 
was referred to a council of the clergy, some of whom 
were convinced by his arguments, but the majority of 
whom conceived that his theory was contrary to the 
Scriptures and consequently untrue. His efforts were 
therefore unavailing, and he turned away disheart- 
ened. 



34 HISTORY OF THE UNITED- STATES. 

His purse had been emptied by the long delays, and 
he was forced at last into begging bread for himself 
and his little boy at the door of a convent. He was a 
man of commanding presence and dignified bearing, 
with hair that had turned white long before. The 
prior, struck by his appearance, made inquiries of him 
and was impressed by his sad history. He interested 
himself in obtaining an audience for Columbus with 
the king and queen. 

Ferdinand was inclined to favor a project which 
promised to bring new and wealthy regions under his 
sway, and the sympathies of Isabella were aroused by 
the possibility of converting the heathen. But Colum- 
bus, thoroughly convinced of the practicability and 
value of his plans, insisted on what seemed extrava- 
gant terms. The coffers of the Spanish treasury had 
been drained by a long war with the Moors, and his 
demands were denied. 

Once more all seemed lost, and he had already 
started to depart, when a messenger, hurrying after, 
recalled him to Isabella Her religious enthusiasm 
had been deeply stirred by Columbus, and she offered 
to pledge her crown-jewels to carry out his plans. 
This sacrifice, however, was afterward found unnec- 
essary. 

It was the early part of 1492. For seven long years 
Columbus had been in Spain, struggling against 
hindrances and obstacles, hardships and despair, but 
at last, when about fifty-six years of age, success 
crowned his attempts and the sufferings of the past 
were forgotten. He was ennobled, made admiral of 
the " Ocean Sea," and viceroy and governor of all the 
countries which he might discover therein. 

On Friday morning, August 3, 1492, Columbus 
set sail from the seaport of Palos in the Santa Ma7ia. 
Two other vessels, hardly more than open boats, 
named the Pinta and the Nina and commanded by the 



COL UMB US A ND THE CA B O TS, 



35 



Pinzons, accompanied him. His men numbered 120, 
many of them being forced to go on a voyage that 
was too hazardous for their taste. The crews soon 
showed signs of a mutinous spirit. As they sailed 




COLUMCL'S DISCOVERING LAND. 



further and further from the coast of Europe, the 
magnetic needle no long-er pointed to its accustomed 
star. Unacquainted with the variations of the com- 
pass, they took this as an ill omen. They lost hope 



36 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

of ever penetrating the vast floating masses of sea- 
weed on the Sargasso Sea. Again and again an ap- 
parent glimpse of land proved illusory. 

At last they threatened openly to throw their ad- 
miral overboard if he did not turn back. Columbus 
had not lost confidence; he insisted that a few more 
days would bring them to land. The very next day 
hope was revived: a carved stick was picked up from 
the water. Inhabited shores must now be close at 
hand. A careful watch was kept on board all the 
vessels. That night Columbus saw a faint light far 
ahead, and just at daybreak Rodrigo de Triana, from 
the deck of the Pinta, caught sight of land, and a gun 
was fired to give notice to the other vessels. 

As the sun rose above the horizon on Friday morn- 
ing, October 12, 1492, Columbus stepped ashore, 
clad in scarlet and carrying the banner of Spain. We 
may faintly imagine his feelings as he fell upon the 
ground and kissed it in the exuberance of his joy, and 
then planting the cross and the banner, took posses- 
sion of the new territory in the name of Ferdinand 
and Isabella. 

The island on which he first landed, one of the 
Bahamas, he named San Salvador. For three months 
he cruised among the neighboring islands, which he 
called the West Indies, supposing they lay off the 
coast of India. He visited Hayti, which was called 
Hispaniola, Cuba, and other islands. On Hayti a 
fort was built of timbers from the Santa Maria. This 
is the first structure known to have been built by 
Europeans on American soil. 

In the early part of the next year he turned east- 
ward to carry back to Spain the news of his success. 
The commander of the Finta had deserted off Cuba, 
and had started home expecting to be the first narra- 
tor of this wonderful discovery. It is said, however, 
that Pinzon did not arrive till the midst of the gen- 



COL UMB US A ND THE CABOTS. 37 

eral rejoicings over the return of Columbus, who had 
preceded him by a few hours. He did not live long 
to bear the intense mortification which he felt at the 
failure of his treachery. 

Ferdinand and Isabella received Columbus in state, 
and did him the unusual honor of requesting that he 
be seated in their presence while telling his marvel- 
ous story. Everywhere now there was unbounded 
enthusiasm, and praise, and fame for the man who a 
few months before had been considered a fanatic and 
forced to beg his bread. 

In the fall of this same year, 1493, Columbus started 
on a second voyage to the New World in command 
of seventeen vessels. He discovered Jamaica, Porto 
Rico, and other islands, and established a colony on 
Hayti. On his return to Spain in 1496 he found that 
envy had begun its infamous work against him. 

But he succeeded in freeing himself for a time 
from the effects of malice and started on a third voy- 
age in 1498. It was on this voyage that he first 
touched the main-land of the Western Continent near 
the mouth of the Orinoco River, in South America. 
Returning to Hayti, where he exerted himself in 
restoring order to the disorganized colony, he was 
arrested by a commissioner from Spain, put in chains, 
and carried home in disgrace. Jealousy and dissen- 
sion had done their worst against him. But the 
people were indignant, and Ferdinand had to declare 
the act unauthorized. Columbus, however, was super- 
seded in his command and had lost much influence at 
court. 

But his desires were not dead. Vasco da Gama, 
a Portuguese navigator, had sailed around the Cape 
of Good Hope in 1498 and had found a way of reach- 
ing India by water. This reanimated Columbus. 
He hoped to find a strait near Darien by which his 
old dream of opening direct westward communica- 



2 8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

tion with India might be realized. Ferdinand was 
once more persuaded by the promise of new realms 
and abundant treasures to provide a fourth equip- 
ment for Columbus. 

The discoverer set sail on his last voyage in 1502 
and coasted in the southern part of the Gulf of Mexico, 
without, of course, finding the desired strait or accom- 
plishing anything of particular value. 

He returned, after much discouragement and hard- 
ship, in 1504. His friend Isabella died about this time, 
and his influence was gone. He lingered for a while, 
poor, suffering, and neglected, till on the 20th of May, 
1506, death came to hisrelease. He was buried with 
magnificence in Valladolid, Spain, and ultimately his 
body was removed to the cathedral of San Domingo, 
in Hayti, where it is supposed to be still resting. 

His own age did not appreciate Columbus at his 
full worth. The continent he had led the way in dis- 
covering was named after another man. Amerigo 
Vespucci, a Venetian navigator, made several voy- 
ages to the New World and touched the main-land. 
His account of his travels was published in 1505, and 
a German geographer suggested that the land he had 
described be called America. The name soon found 
popular favor and was adopted, but Vespucci was 
an honorable man and a friend of Columbus, and 
there is no reason to believe that he himself desired 
to take from Columbus the honor of giving a name 
to the Western Continent. Yet we cannot but regret 
that some part of the fame which has increased for 
the memory of Columbus with every yeai» since his 
death did not fall to him in life to assuage the misery 
and the pain of his last years. 

But Columbus was not the first to see the main- 
land of America. John Cabot was a skillful sailor 
who had lived long in Venice and England. To him 
Henry VII. of England gave a commission to make 



COLUMBUS AND THE CABOTS. 



39 



explorations and take possession in the name of Eng- 
land of all lands which he might discover. He sailed 
from England in 1497, and on June 24th of that year 
came in sight of the coast of Labrador or of Cape 
Breton Island. Columbus, it will be remembered, did 
not discover the continent of South America till four- 
teen months later. 

Cabot took possession of the country he had reached 
with the usual formalities, planting the cross and the 
banners of England and the Venetian Republic, and 
cruised for several hundred miles along the coast. 

His return to England was marked by unbounded 
rejoicings. The king desired him to continue his dis- 
coveries and was willing to furnish the necessary 
funds. But he does not appear to have made a second 
voyage, and his name henceforth disappears mysteri- 
ously from the pages of history. 

But his son Sebastian, who had probably accom- 
panied his father on his famous voyage, perpetuated 
and added new luster to the name of Cabot. In 1498, 
when hardly more than twenty-two years of age, he 
commanded an expedition whose object was to find a 
northwest passage to India. He therefore directed 
his course at first to the higher latitudes, but after- 
ward turned southward along the coast, which he 
explored as far down, probably, as the Chesapeake. 
He had made extensive discoveries, but his voyage 
was unsuccessful so far as its chief object was con- 
cerned, and it attracted less attention because of the 
great success which Vasco daGamahad just attained 
in reaching India byway of the Cape of Good Hope. 

Sebastian Cabot's subsequent life was varied. On 
the death of Henry VII. Ferdinand invited him to 
Spain, where he was accorded high honors and given 
the command of an expedition to search in the south- 
west for a passage to India. On this voyage he 
entered the La Plata River, in South America. After- 



40 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ward returning to England, he received a pension 
and became the president of a company which sent 
out an expedition to the northeast to seek in still an- 
other direction the long-sought passage to India, 
which was not yet despaired of. 

Sebastian Cabot was probably the first European to 
recognize that a new continent had been found. The 
great discoverer, Columbus, died in the belief that he 
had reached some part of the eastern coast of Asia, 
and little dreamed of the powerful nations and mag- 
nificent cities that would displace the savages and the 
forests of the New World. 



SPANISH EXPLORATIONS, 41 



CHAPTER IV. 

SPANISH EXPLORATIONS. 

Religious and mercenary motives of the Spaniards — Slavery — Da- 
rien settled — Balboa discovers the Pacific — Ponce de Leon 
and Florida — Yucatan — Cortes conquers Mexico — Magellan 
circumnavigates the globe — D'Ayllon — Expedition of Nar- 
vaez — Concluded under the leadership of De Vaca — Pizarro's 
conquest of Peru — De Soto discovers the Mississippi — His 
death — The Huguenots in Florida — Their massacre by Me- 
nendez — St. Augustine founded — Coronado, Cabrillo, and 
Espejo — Santa Fe founded — Portuguese explorations — Cor- 
tereal — Relations between the Spaniards and Indians. 

A new world having been discovered, there were 
many hardy adventurers to follow in the footsteps of 
Columbus and explore the lands he had made known. 

The western nations of Europe naturally took the 
lead in sending out expeditions. The new lands be- 
ing inhabited by races of lower civilization than 
Europeans and of a heathen religion, were considered 
fair subjects for conquest. The expeditions took 
formal possession of the territories they explored in 
the name of their native governments, and seemed to 
consider the wealth they found in Central and South 
America as the just reward for their enterprise and 
the introduction of their civilization and religion. 

But the religious motives which actuated Colum- 
bus shortly gave place to mercenary ones, and religion 
served chiefly as an excuse for conquest and exter- 
mination. The colonies that were planted in the 
West Indies employed Indians as slaves to carry on 
the hard labor, and thousands of natives were brought 
from the main-land to perish miserably in slavery. 



42 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The King of Spain at this period, Charles V., was at 
the same time Emperor of Germany and one of the 
most powerful monarchs in Europe, and Spain took 
an early and leading part in exploring the New 
World, pushing out in all directions, north, west, and 
south, from the West Indies. But her emissaries were 
cruel and rapacious, and incurred the hatred and 
vengeance of the natives to a greater degree than 
those of any other nation. 

After exploring and colonizing the West Indies the 
Spaniards pushed over to the main-land, and their first 
colony was founded at Darien in 15 lo. In 15 13 the 
governor of that colony, Vasco Nunez de Balboa, 
ascended the mountains on the isthmus and was the 
first European to see from American shores the vast 
expanse of the Pacific Ocean, He descended to the 
strand, waded into the water, and with drawn sword 
claimed the sea and all the lands it washed for Spain. 

The first attempts at exploration within the pres- 
ent limits of the United States were made by Juan 
Ponce de Leon, a rich but old cavalier, who, having 
heard traditions of a fountain of youth, fitted out a 
private expedition to find the rejuvenating waters. 
He sailed from Porto Rico, and on Easter Sunday, 
15 1 2, came in sight of a shore beautiful with trop- 
ical verdure. Easter was called by the Spaniards 
Pasqua Florida (the Feast of Flowers), and partly in 
honor of the day and partly because of the luxuriant 
vegetation that met his eyes he called the land Flori- 
da. He landed a few days later near the present site 
of St. Augustine and claimed the country for the 
Spanish crown, in the possession of which it remained 
for over three centuries. He of course failed to find 
the fountain which was the object of his search, 
though he explored the coast southward to the Tor- 
tugas. 

Charles V., king of Spain, appointed him governor 



SPA I^ISII EXPL OR A TTONS. 43 

of Florida and sent him thither again to plant a 
colony. When he landed, in 1521, he was attacked 
by the Indians, his men were defeated, and he himself 
received his death-wound. 

In 15 17 Yucatan was discovered by Fernandez de 
Cordova, and in 15 19 Hernando Cortes was sent by 
the Governor of Cuba with about 800 men to conquer 
Mexico. The emperor of that country, Montezuma, 
a powerful and rich monarch, sent embassadors with 
costly presents to entreat him not to penetrate the 
country. He nevertheless burned his ships behind 
him and pushed forward on an exploit that proved 
to -be one of the most romantic in history. 

He entered the City of Mexico in November and 
remained for some time in the splendid and opulent 
capital. At last, perhaps fearing that his small force 
might be overwhelmed by the hosts of natives who 
swarmed around them, he seized Montezuma on some 
pretext as a hostage for the safety of the Spaniards, 
He forced the emperor to declare himself a vassal of 
Charles V., to pay at once a princely sum of gold, 
and to promise an annual tribute to Spain. 

Then learning that Narvaez had been sent to de- 
prive him of his command, he left part of his troops 
in the capital and marched with the remainder to sur- 
prise his fellow-countryman. Having effected this 
object against a largely superior force, he persuaded 
the defeated Spaniards to follow him in his return 
to Mexico. 

There he found that a conflict had arisen between 
the natives and the soldiers he had left, who were 
saved from great danger by the arrival of Cortes. A 
long struggle now commenced, during which, on one 
occasion, Cortes forced Montezuma to appear before 
his subjects and advise them to lay down their arms. 
As a reward for the emperor's lack of courage and 
patriotism, he was struck down by his own people 



44 HI ST OR y OF THE UNITED ST A TES. 

and died soon after. Then a pitched battle was 
fought, in which victory fell to the Spaniards. 

Finally Cortes laid siege to the city, which bravely 
held out for several months; but the end came at 
length, and in August, 15 21, Cortes entered the capi- 
tal as a conqueror and Spain came into possession of 
a new and valuable province. 

About this time an event occurred which deserves 
to be mentioned, not because it is directly connected 
with the history of the United States, but because it 
furnished a practical proof for the correctness of the 
theories of Columbus, and because it is a striking ex- 
ample of the enterprise of Spain in the line of dis- 
covery. 

Fernando Magalhaens, or Magellan, a Portuguese 
sailor, failing to find support in his own land, secured 
from Spain the command of a squadron, with which 
he started in 15 19 to circumnavigate the globe. He 
touched at Brazil, skirted the coast of South 
America, passed through the straits that bear his 
nam.e, and then pushed out into the Pacific Ocean, 
the eastern part of which had never before been 
divided by a European keel. He reached one of the 
Philippine Islands, where he was killed by the natives. 

Some of his ships had to be deserted here as no 
longer seaworthy, but his men were transferred to a 
single vessel, which continued the voyage and 
reached home in 1522. This vessel, the Vitoria, was 
the first to actually circumnavigate the globe, but 
Magellan himself had previously, in sailing eastward, 
reached the same longitude in which he died, and so 
had himself been entirely around the world. 

In 1520 d'Ayllon set out to kidnap natives on the 
Bahamas to serve as slaves on Spanish plantations 
in the West Indies. He was driven northward by a 
storm and reached the coast of South Carolina. 
While many of the natives were on board the ships, 



SPANISH EXP LOR A TIONS. 4^ 

examining the wonders of European skill and power, 
he treacherously carried them off. Being made 
governor of this territory, he attempted to land again 
in 1525, but the Indians, who remembered his 
treachery, fought with such fury and killed so many 
of his men that he was forced to give up his attempt. 

The same Narvaez who had been sent to replace 
Cortes, but suffered defeat at his hands instead, was 
made governor of Florida, which embraced a much 
larger territory than the state now known by that 
name. In 1528 he landed at Tampa Bay and struck 
inland, expecting to find wealthy nations which might 
be plundered. But in place of these he found only 
a wilderness of swamps and forests and a few 
wretched villages. Suffering, disaster, and death 
waited upon his command till they reached the coast 
at St. Mark's. Failing to find the ships they ex- 
pected, they built some poor vessels and sailed for 
the Mexican settlements, only to be buffeted by 
storms and finally cast again on the inhospitable 
shore somewhere to the west of the Mississippi. 

Their leader was now dead, but De Vaca, who had 
been his lieutenant, led them westward till himself 
and three other survivors of this ill-fated expedition 
came, in 1536, through constant suffering and danger, 
to the Pacific coast and were taken to the City of 
Mexico, where they found themselves once more 
among their countrymen. 

Spanish enterprise meanwhile had been active in 
another direction. What Cortes had done in Mexico 
Francisco Pizarro had commenced in Peru. The land 
of the Incas surpassed even Mexico in wealth and 
civilization. Pizarro visited it in 1524 and 1526 with 
small bands, but having obtained the right of con- 
quest and the title of governor from Charles V., he 
started in 1531 with 180 men on an expedition that 
resulted finally in achieving the desired ends. Pizarro 



46 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

was courageous but cruel and cunning, and it was 
not without treachery that his small force subdued a 
mighty empire and plundered its wealth. He was 
killed by conspirators in 1541. 

One of the companions of Pizarro was Fernando De 
Soto, a distinguished cavalier who had begun his 
career as an explorer at an early age. He returned 
to Spain before the death of Pizarro, rich with the 
spoils of the conquered country, and was received by 
Charles V. with the greatest distinction. The marvels 
that De Vaca narrated of his wanderings attracted De 
Soto's attention to Florida, and he asked and obtained 
permission from the king to conquer this indefinitely 
large region. His undertaking aroused the greatest 
enthusiasm in Spain, and there was no lack of noble 
cavaliers eager to follow his leadership. He chose 
600 of the most promising knights, with numerous 
officers and priests. The expedition, rich in armor and 
accouterments, abundantly provided with everything 
that could be thought of, and excited by the wildest 
dreams of wealth and adventure, left Spain in the 
year 1538. 

De Soto touched at Cuba, and leaving his wife there 
with the other ladies of the company, sailed around 
into the Gulf of Mexico, and in the early summer of 
1539 landed in the neighborhood of Tampa Bay. He 
slowly followed the coast northward, and in October 
settled for the winter near the site of Tallahassee, send- 
ing out several exploring expeditions. 

Spring came at last and brought new hope to his men, 
who were disappointed at finding only tangled forests 
in place of wealthy empires. The Indians told them 
-marvelous stories of a rich country to the northeast. 
De Soto, firm in his determination to find gold or 
see the poverty of the land with his own eyes, led 
them on. They went as far as South Carolina in this 
direction without finding the object of their aims^ 



SPA NISH EXPL OKA TIONS. 4 7 

then turned westward, passing through the upper 
parts of Georgia and Alabama, and at last, wandering 
down the valleys of the Coosa and the Alabama 
rivers, came in the fall of this year, 1540, to a forti- 
fied Indian village where the city of Mobile now 
stands. Here they fought one of the severest battles 
ever waged between Europeans and Indians. The 
latter lost 2,500 men and the Spaniards suffered by 
the death of eighteen men, the wounding of many 
more, and the destruction of their baggage and a 
number of their horses. 

De Soto was a proud man and steadfast of purpose, 
and notwithstanding the circumstances in which he 
found himself, refused all help from the vessels sent 
from Cuba with supplies to the coast of Florida. He 
turned northward again, experiencing severe weather 
and suffering from lack of provisions. He wintered 
in the northern part of Mississippi, and in the spring 
of 1541 had another sharp conflict with the natives. 
The Chickasaws surprised his camp during the night 
and set fire to the Indian village which De Soto had 
occupied. But the Spaniards once more came out 
victorious, though not unscathed. 

Their temper, however, was not yet subdued, and 
after supplying themselves as best they could with 
food and clothing, they turned their faces westward. 
Somewhere in the northern part of the present state 
of Mississippi, on an unknown date in the early part 
of 1541, the " Great Father of Waters " was first seen 
by Europeans. De Vaca, it will be remembered, had 
missed the river, passing around its mouth in his 
rude boats. On the banks of the Mississippi De 
Soto was delayed for some weeks before transports 
could be built to ferry over the horses, but finally his 
command crossed the river and continued their 
journey. 

To the north and west they went, touching, prob- 



48 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ably, our present state of Missouri and Indian Terri- 
tory, and thence southward till they came to the hot 
springs of Arkansas. The winter was spent in this 
neighborhood, and in the spring they followed the 
valleys of the Washita and Red rivers to the Missis- 
sippi. There De Soto, disappointed in his hopes, 
crushed by his misfortunes, despairing at last of suc- 
cess, conscience-stricken, let us hope, at the frightful 
cruelties and wrong that had been inflicted on the In- 
dians, fell victim to a deadly fever. In May, 1542, his 
followers, with solemn rites, committed his body to 
the mighty river he had discovered. 

The surviving Spaniards now turned again to the 
west in the attempt to reach their brethren in Mex- 
ico, but after continuing till their progress was 
barred by mountains, they returned once more to the 
Mississippi. Here they spent several months in the 
arduous task of building boats without the proper 
means at their command. When these were com- 
pleted they embarked, sailed down the river, and 
coasting along the gulf to the southwest, came at last 
in September, 1543, to the Spanish settlements in 
Mexico, a company of forlorn, weary, miserable 
travelers, hardly half the number of the proud and 
splendid army that had left Spain five years and a 
half before. The most romantic story of the early 
exploration of our country was brought to a close. 

A score of years now passed, during which Florida 
received little attention from the Spaniards. The 
Huguenots, or French Protestants, flying from perse- 
cution at home, had made a settlement on the St. 
John's River. To drive out these invaders from ter- 
ritory claimed by Spain, to destroy the adherents of 
a hated religion, and to plant a Spanish colony, were 
the objects which led Philip II. of Spain to send out 
an expedition under Pedro Menendez de Aviles. 

Menendez was a man of savage nature, well fitted 



SPA NISH EXPL OR A TIOXS. 49 

to accomplish the desired results. He took with him 
2,600 men and reached Florida on St. Augustine's 
day, 1565. In honor of that saint the town was 
named whose foundations were laid on the 8th of 
September. This was the first town and the first 
permanent settlement that were established within 
the present limits of the United States. 

Menendez now turned his attention to the Hugue- 
nots. The French vessels had put out to give battle to 
the Spaniards but were wrecked by a storm. Menendez, 
falling suddenly on the Huguenot settlement, swept it 
out of existence and destroyed every man, woman, 
and child but a few who escaped. The crews of the 
wrecked vessels were also discovered and treacher- 
ously murdered in cold blood. The French fort was 
renamed San Mateo and was afterward the scene 
where the French exacted bitter vengeance from the 
Spaniards for this atrocity. 

Besides these famous expeditions whose history has 
been given, there were various other explorations 
made by the Spaniards. Coronado, starting in 1540, 
traveled northward from Mexico for a considerable 
distance ; Cabrillo sailed in 1542 along the Pacific 
coast as far as Oregon ; and in 1582 Espejo explored 
the territory which he named New Mexico and found- 
ed Santa Fe, the second oldest town in the United 
States. 

Portugal was as slack as Spain was active in the 
work of exploration within the limits of the United 
States. There is but one Portuguese expedition that 
deserves mention, and this was only of minor import- 
ance, as it led to no Portuguese hold on the territory 
of this Union. 

Gaspar Cortereal reached our shores in 1501 in the 
neighborhood of Maine, and thence coasted several 
hundred miles to the north before icebergs barred his 
course. He gave the name of Labrador to the region 



^c HISTOI^Y OF THE UNITED STATES. 

that is so known, and kidnaping a number of In- 
dians for slaves returned to Spain. Setting forth on 
a second voyage for the same purpose, he was never 
heard of again. 

Having concluded this sketch of the Spanish explo- 
rations, we shall henceforth have little to do with the 
Spaniards. We have seen the energy with which they 
followed up the discoveries of Columbus, and we have 
followed the expeditions which had now explored the 
southern and southeastern parts of the United States 
and much of the vast region west of the Mississippi. 
Their persistence, their courage, and their sufferings 
make the story of these undertakings read like a. 
romance, but the glory of their achievements is 
dimmed by the heartless cruelty with which they 
tortured and massacred the Indians, plundered them 
without mercy, and carried them away to a life of 
slavery. It was the memory of this ferocity which in 
large measure contributed to make the red man con- 
sider the pale-face as his mortal enemy. 

We now come to the French, English, and Dutch 
explorations, which have so much more to do with the 
vital part of our history. 



FRENCH EXP LOR A TIONS. 51 



CHAPTER V. 

FRENCH EXPLORATIONS. 

Verrazzano — Cartier's voyages to the St, Lawrence — Roberval — 
Religious dissensions in Europe — Coligni's colonies — Ribault 
discovers Port Royal — Laudonniere leads a colony to Florida 
— Their massacre — The revenge of De Gourgues — La Roche's 
colony on Sable Island — De Monts plants a colony in Acadia 
— Champlain — Founds Quebec — Discovers Lake Champlain — 
The Jesuits — Raymbault on the great lakes — Joliet and Mar- 
quette explore the Mississippi — La Salle — Descends the Mis- 
sissippi — Leads a French colony — His death — Biloxi founded 
— Relations of Spaniards and Frenchmen with the Indians 
compared. 

The French were first attracted to America by the 
vast shoals of cod and other fish which the early 
voyagers had seen. Before the death of Columbus, 
French fishermen had found the banks of New- 
foundland teeming with the objects of their search. 
The accounts they gave of their visits to the new land, 
and the Indians who were sometimes brought over to 
France, attracted the attention of the king, Francis I. 
He commissioned Giovanni Verrazzano, or. Verra- 
zani, a Florentine navigator, to conduct an expedi- 
tion for the discovery of the northwest passage. The 
accounts of Verrazzano and his voyage have not 
passed without question among historians, though 
accepted by many. He is said, at an earlier period in 
his career than the one we now speak of, to have capt- 
ured a ship laden with the treasure which Cortes had 
obtained in Mexico and was sending home to Spain. 
Now having been commissioned by the French king 
on this new expedition, he is supposed to have set 



5 2 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

sail in 1524 and reached the American shore in the 
neighborhood of Cape Fear. Thence he sailed for 
some distance to the south, but soon turned north- 
ward and coasted as far as Newfoundland. He en- 
tered the harbors o£ New York and Newport and 
carefully examined the coast. He commenced trad- 
ing operations with the natives at various points in 
his journey, finding the southern Indians kind and 
hospitable but the northern ones more chary of inter- 
course. On his return to France he published the 
story of his adventures, which has provoked much dis- 
cussion as to its authenticity and truth. His explo- 
rations were the basis of the claim that the French 
made to this territory, which they called New France. 

The next name of prominence in the annals of 
French exploration is that of Jacques Cartier. Francis 
fitted out two vessels, and with these Cartier reached 
Newfoundland in 1534, after a speedy passage of 
twenty days. He rounded Newfoundland and took 
possession of Labrador. Then turning south he 
passed Anticosti, and on the shore of Gaspe Bay set 
up the cross and \.\\& fleur-de-lis^ the emblems of Cathol- 
icism and of France. He next entered the St. Law- 
rence River, not yet so named, however, and ascended 
its broad waters for a considerable distance, after 
which he returned home to avoid a winter in this 
bleak climate. 

An attempt was now made to plant a colony in New 
France, and Cartier received command of another ex- 
pedition with this object in view. Leaving France in 
1535 he again reached Newfoundland, and this time 
gave the name of St. Lawrence to part of the gulf in 
honor of the saint whose day it was. The name was 
aftervvard extended to the whole gulf and the river 
that empties into it. 

The vessels sailed up the St. Lawrence River nearly 
to the present site of Quebec. There he heard from 



FRENCH EXP LOR A TIONS. 



53 



the Indians of a town further up the river which he 
determined to visit. In his boats he ascended the 
stream till he came to the village, on an island. He 
climbed the high hill which rose above the town, and 
struck with the beauty and grandeur of the scene 
spread out before him, he named the elevation Mont 
Real (Mount Ro3^al). It was on this island that the 
city of Montreal was afterward built. 

Returning to his ships, he spent the winter there. 
A score of his men died with the scurvy and the re- 
mainder suffered extremely from the unaccustomed 
cold. In the spring the survivors gladly returned to 
France, bringing away with them by treachery an 
Indian chief. On this voyage more territory was 
brought into the possession of France, but there was 
no enthusiasm over a land that seemed to be desti- 
tute of wealth and to have such a harsh climate. 

Several years passed before another attempt was 
made to colonize New France. Then Cartier was 
sent on his third voyage, though this time nominally 
under the leadership of a French nobleman, De la 
Roque, lord of Roberval. The sufferings which the 
last expedition had undergone made it difficult to 
secure volunteers who desired to make their homes in 
the rugged land. Finally some one hit on the ex- 
pedient of offering pardon to all prisoners except 
counterfeiters and traitors who would become colo- 
nists. Of course there was no lack of these, and Car- 
tier set sail in 1541 with a company largely composed 
of this unprornising material. 

Near the spot where Quebec now stands a fort 
named Charlesbourg was erected. During the winter 
there was much suffering from the weather, and also 
from the Indians, who remembered the Frenchman's 
perfidy on his last voyage in kidnaping their chief. 
By the time summer came the colonists were ready to 
return home, and Cartier sailed back. He was met 



54 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

by Roberval arriving with three ships, but pursued 
his homeward journey. Roberval remained, but one 
winter was enough for this company also, and the 
next year, 1543, they returned to France without ac- 
complishing anything of value. Roberval afterward 
commanded another expedition, from which no news 
was ever received. 

From this time on we shall hear much of religious 
dissensions in the nations of Europe. Luther and 
Calvin had thoroughly inaugurated the Reformation, 
and Protestants now constituted important bodies in 
Germany, Holland, France, and England. In France 
they were followers of Calvin, and were called Hu- 
guenots. Their numbers and influence were con- 
siderable, and their political fortunes rose and fell at 
different times, but for the most part they were per- 
secuted by the Catholics,who constituted the larger and 
generally more influential party in the state. One of 
their number was Coligni, the distinguished admiral 
of France. He formed the plan of establishing a 
colony in New France that should afford a peaceful 
home for the brethren of his faith. He secured the 
necessary permission from the king, Charles IX., and 
Jean Ribault was chosen as the commander of the 
expedition. He touched the coast of Florida in 1562, 
where he set up a block of stone appropriately marked, 
to bear witness of French claim to the territory. 
Then sailing northward he discovered and named 
Port Royal. Again he set up the mark of French 
dominion, and built a fort which he named, after 
Charles IX., Carolina (from the Latin Carolus, 
Charles). The English afterward applied this name 
to the whole coast in that vicinity, though in honor of 
their own king of the same name. 

Leaving hardly more than a score of men to guard 
the fort, Ribault returned to France for more men 
and supplies. But religious dissensions prevented 



FA'EiVCII EXPLOIT A TIONS. ^ ^ 

his immediate return. The company he had left at 
Port Royal remained during the winter, but the next 
spring, after mutinying and killing their commander, 
they made a small vessel as best they could and 
started for home. After suffering for a long time, 
driven hither and thither by storms, and short of 
food, they were fortunately saved by an English ship 
and carried to their native land. 

The disastrous result of this attempt did not pre- 
vent Coligni from renewing his endeavors. In 1564 
Laudonniere was sent to plant a colony. He reached 
the St. John's River, in Florida, and erected a fort, 
also named Carolina. The men who composed Lau- 
donniere's command were of poor material for estab- 
lishing a colony. Some of them deserted, and turn- 
ing pirates, roved the seas till they were captured 
and hung. The others were shiftless and disap- 
pointed in their hopes. Finally Laudonniere saw 
that it was useless to continue in his attempt with 
such men to support him and decided to return 
home. Everything was in readiness for their de- 
parture, when Ribault appeared in 1565 with sup- 
plies and restored confidence in the enterprise. Just 
after this the Spaniard Menendez arrived, and soon 
the colony, which had renewed its lease of life, was 
blotted out of existence in the cruel way we re- 
counted in the last chapter. 

The French king took no steps to avenge the mur- 
der of his subjects. This was left to the enterprise of 
Dominique de Gourgues. Stirred by the massacre of 
his countrymen, he turned his property into money, 
prepared three vessels almost unaided, and sailed for 
Florida in 1567. He captured with his small band 
three Spanish forts on the St. John's River, and then, 
fearing that the Spanish colony at St. Augustine 
might attack him with a superior force, he hanged 
his prisoners. Menendez had placed over the bodies 



56 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

of the Frenchmen he had murdered the inscription, 
" Not as Frenchmen, but as Lutherans." De Gourgues, 
therefore, inscribed above his victims, '' Not as 
Spaniards, but as murderers." De Gourgues now 
returned home. Spain demanded that he be given to 
her for punishment, but France refused to deliver 
him to death. Thus end the attempts of France to 
colonize the southern part of the American coast. 

In 1598 the Marquis de la Roche led an expedition 
made up, as the third of Cartier's had been, of con- 
victs. He landed at Sable Island, near the shore of 
Nova Scotia, one of the most barren spots on the 
Atlantic coast. There he left forty men and sailed 
back to France to procure, as he said, more colonists 
and provisions, but he died soon after his return 
home and his colony was neglected. They remained 
on this bleak island for seven years, until they were 
taken off by a passing vessel and carried back to 
their native land. 

A more successful attempt was made in 1604 by 
De Monts. He had obtained an extensive grant in 
the territory claimed by France, with the monopoly 
of the fur-trade and freedom to the Huguenots in 
the exercise of their religion. He reached the Bay 
of Fundy, and after some uncertainty and an at- 
tempt to settle at the mouth of the St. Croix River, 
in 1605 established the first permanent French colony 
in America on the spot in Nova Scotia where the 
city of Annapolis now stands. The settlement was 
originally called Port Royal, and the whole country 
on both sides of the Bay of Fundy was named 
Acadia. 

The French were first attracted to America by the 
fisheries, as we have seen, but they now saw an addi- 
tional advantage to be gained in trading with the 
natives for furs, which would be useful to their 
extensive hat-manufacturing interests. Samuel de 



FRENCH EXP LOR A TIONS. 



57 



Champlain was therefore employed by a company of 
merchants to lead the way in the new enterprise. 
Champlain, under a royal commission, sailed up the 
St. Lawrence River in 1603. and on his return to 
France published an account of his voyage. The next 
year he accompanied De Monts on his expedition, 
in the course of which Champlain sailed as far south 
as Cape Cod. 

Once more he visited America, this time in 1608. 
He now founded Quebec, on the St. Lawrence, choos- 
ing an admirable and almost impregnable site for the 
town. In 1609 he followed the Huron Indians and 
their allies in Canada against the Iroquois, and did 
good service for his friends with his gun, thus secur- 
ing the permanent friendship of the Canadian In- 
dians for the French and the undying hostility of 
the Five Nations. On this expedition he discovered 
the lake that bears his name. 

Champlain made various other voyages between 
France and his colony. He engaged again in warfare 
with friendly Indians against hostile tribes, and on 
one occasion was severely wounded. He endeavored 
in vain to find a passage between the St. Lawrence 
River and Hudson Bay, which had now been discov- 
ered. He established trade on a firm basis between 
the white and the red man. -He pointed out the vast 
field for Christian \vork among the hordes of heathen 
who inhabited the forests, and encouraged the Jesuits 
to send missionaries among them. 

In 1629 Quebec was captured by an English fleet 
during a quarrel between France and England, and 
Champlain was made prisoner. The colony was 
shortly restored to the French, however, and Cham- 
plain returned to it again. He founded a college and 
developed the missionary work and the resources of 
the colony, leaving behind him at last a noble record 
of unselfish and energetic work in French coloniza- 



5 8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

tion. It was Champlain who finally established the 
French in a firm position in America, and so led the 
way to their future explorations in the interior of the 
continent. 

These inland explorations were due almost entirely 
to the untiring energy and zeal of the Jesuits. The 
motives which led the pioneers of civilization to push 
their way along the chain of great lakes and down the 
valley of the Mississippi were the spirit of discovery, 
the increase of trade with the natives, and very large- 
ly the desire to convert them to the Catholic faith. 

In 1641 Charles Raymbault, the earliest of these 
explorers, passed through Lake Huron and continued 
to the further shores of Lake Superior. By 1673 
Jesuit missions had been established at Various points 
on the northern and southern shores of the great 
lakes. In that year Louis Joliet and Jacques Mar- 
quette left Mackinaw with five other Frenchmen, 
reached the Wisconsin River by the Fox River and a 
portage, and descended to the Mississippi. This 
stream they followed as far down as the mouth of the 
Arkansas River. Satisfied by this time that the Mis- 
sissippi flowed on till it reached the Gulf of Mexico, 
and fearing capture by hostile Indians, they turned 
their faces to the north, and reached Green Bay by 
way of the Illinois River and Lake Michigan. 

Joliet returned to Quebec, but Marquette re- 
mained in the wilderness preaching the Gospel to the 
Indians. He struggled on in his arduous undertak- 
ing through exposure, danger, and illness, dying at 
last on the banks of a small river on the eastern shore 
of Lake Michigan that still bears his name. 

The story of this journey stirred the spirit of ad- 
venture in the breast of Robert de la Salle, a name 
destined to become as inseparably connected with the 
Mississippi and romantic history as that of De Soto. 
He obtained the monopoly of the fur-trade with the 



FRENCH EXPLOKA TIONS. 



59 



Five Nations in New York, his grant including Fort 
Frontenac, which had previously been established on 
the present site of Kingston, Ontario. He heard such 
stories from the Indians that he desired to explore 
the country and rivers to the west. He went to 
France, obtained permission to carry on explorations 
for five years, to build forts, and to exercise the exclu- 
sive trade in buffalo skins. He therefore organized 
an expedition in 1679, constructed the first ship ever 
seen above Niagara Falls, and sailed through the 
lakes to Green Bay. Thence he proceeded to the 
southern part of Lake Michigan and, through the St. 
Joseph, a portage, and the Kankakee, reached the 
Illinois River. He now met with various misfortunes 
and was obliged to return to Frontenac in the early 
part of 1680, an arduous march of over 1,000 miles, 
which he made with few companions. 

From the Illinois, however, Father Henenpin had 
been sent still further westward, and he ascended the 
Mississippi till he reached and named the Falls of St. 
Anthony. 

But La Salle had not accomplished all he desired. 
Freshly equipped he returned to the Illinois, and in 
the early part of 1682 started down that stream. He 
descended the Mississippi to its mouth, taking posses- 
sion of the territory which he passed in the name of 
France and calling it Louisiana, after his king, Louis 
XIV. He returned over the same route, reached 
Quebec in 1683, and thence proceeded to France. 

France occupied a splendid position in Europe at 
this time and thought to achieve additional power and 
grandeur by planting a new empire in America. An 
effort was made to settle the Mississippi valley, the 
resources of which La Salle had vividly described. 
Four vessels, bearing 280 people under Beaujeu as 
commander of the fleet and La Salle as governor of 
the colony, sailed in 1684 for the mouth of the Missis- 
sippi. 



6o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

By neglect of La Salle's advice the mouth of that 
river was missed, and after one or two stops the com- 
pany was landed at Matagorda Bay, on the coast of 
Texas. The ship which carried the supplies had been 
wrecked and Beaujeu soon sailed away. La Salle 
was left in a destitute condition with perhaps 250 
colonists. For nearly two years the brave leader 
struggled manfully to make the colony a success, 
building Fort St. Louis and trying to cultivate the 
ground, but misfortunes crowded thick upon him and 
reduced the number of nis companions to about forty. 
Attempts to find the Mississippi on the one hand and 
the gold mines of New Mexico on the other were alike 
fruitless. At last, in January, 1687, with sixteen com- 
rades, leaving the remainder of the party in Fort St. 
Louis, he started for the Illinois. For two months he 
marched northward till he reached the Trinity River, 
Texas. On the banks of that stream he was treach- 
erously shot by one of his companions who had long 
been mutinous. So ended the life of the man who 
had given France her claim to the Mississippi val- 
ley — a man of high spirit, undaunted courage, and 
keen intellect; of boldness, perseverance, and energy. 

Only seven of his comrades on this march survived 
to reach a French settlement on the Mississippi. 
Those who had been left in Fort St. Louis were 
mostly killed by the Indians. 

After Biloxi, now in the state of Mississippi, was 
founded by Lemoine d'lberville in 1699, F.rance may 
be considered to have had a firm hold on the vast prov- 
ince of Louisiana, which far exceeded the limits of 
the state now known by that name. This territory, 
held by France, by Spain, and afterward by France 
again, did not come into the possession of the United 
States till 1803. 

France held Nova Scotia till 17 13 and the balance 
of her colonies in Canada till 1763, when she was 



FRENCH EXPL OR A TIONS. 6 1 

obliged to yield them to Great Britain by the force of 
events which we shall trace later on. 

The history of the dealing with the Indians by 
Spaniards and Frenchmen furnishes a striking con- 
trast. The former seemed to think chiefly of con- 
quest, and they bore themselves arrogantly, caring 
little whether they made allies or enemies of the 
natives; the latter desired to effect permanent settle- 
ments for trading purposes, and they did their best 
to make friends of the Indians. The one nationality 
massacred, tortured, and enslaved; the other tried to 
convert, educate, and trade. The Spaniard stood 
aloof in his pride and armor ; the Frenchman entered 
the Indian's wigwam and shared his blanket. As a 
result the Spaniards incurred the hatred of the 
natives and caused a wholesale distrust of the pale- 
face, while the French, wherever they went, made 
allies, with whom they had extensive trading rela- 
tions and whom they could wield with terrible power 
against a foe. Such were the characteristic methods, 
though not without exceptions in individual cases or 
modifications later on, which these two nations fol- 
lowed. Their effect bears considerably on the settle- 
ments of the English which we are now to review, 
because the early settlers of that people fell under 
the suspicion of the natives which Spain had done 
so much to cause, and the colonists at a later period 
suffered frightfully at the hands of the Indian allies 
of the French. 



62 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER VI. 

ENGLISH EXPLORATIONS. 

England's delay in colonizing — Frobisher's voyages — Drake cir- 
cumnavigates the globe — Sir Humphrey Gilbert's expedi- 
tion — His death — Raleigh's colonies — Amidas and Barlow — 
Grenville and Lane — The Invincible Armada — The " Lost 
Colony of Roanoke " — Tobacco and potatoes — Gosnold — 
Pring — Weymouth — English claims to territory. 

We have already described the voyages of the 
Cabots, father and son. For three-quarters of a 
century after this England did little or nothing to 
explore the country which these hardy navigators 
had made known. The cause of their inactivity is 
not far to seek. Soon after the discovery of America 
thepope had issued a bull, exercising the almost un- 
limited authority which was at that time generally 
conceded to him in temporal as well as spiritual mat- 
ters, by which he assigned to Spain all the land v/hich 
had been or might be discovered beyond an imaginary 
line 300 miles to the west of the Azores. The French 
monarchs, although Catholics, did not yield their 
obedience to this bull, as we have seen. "I should 
like to see," said Francis I., *' the clause in Adam's 
will which disinherits me in the New World." But 
England was not so bold. Henry VII., a Catholic 
king, respected the papal authority. During the 
reign of his successor, Henry VIII., the English 
Reformation took place, and the decree of the pope 
lost its binding force on England. It was not, how- 
ever, till Elizabeth had come to the throne and a 
marvelous spirit of activity in every direction mani- 



ENGLISH EXP LOR A TIONS. (^t^ 

fested itself that England once more commenced her 
explorations. 

The world still entertained hopes of finding the 
long-sought passage to India by sailing around the 
new continent. Martin Frobisher was put in com- 
mand of three vessels and dispatched in 1576 on this 
quest. One of the ships was lost and the second 
returned to England with a faint-hearted crew, but 
Frobisher pursued his journey and succeeded in 
reaching the highest latitude yet known to Europeans 
in this quarter of the globe. Beyond giving his 
name to Frobisher Bay, however, and bringing back 
with him a stone which was said to contain gold, he 
accomplished nothing. 

Aroused by the hope of gold, a new fleet was dis- 
patched the next year under the same commander 
but the men were fearful in the midst of the icebergs 
and other dangers which surrounded them, and the 
expedition returned without the precious metal. 

In 1578, with more exaggerated hopes than ever, 
fifteen vessels were provided by the queen and others, 
and Frobisher was sent again to plant a colony and 
bring back gold. The vessels reached the land which 
Frobisher had named Meta Incognita and took on 
board cargoes of earth which was supposed to contain 
the gold. Now the provision ship deserted them, 
storms played havoc with the vessels, and their hearts 
failing, the expedition returned home. It is hardly 
necessary to say that their dreams of gold were fruit- 
less. 

A famous name on the pages of England's maritime 
history is that of Sir Francis Drake. He was a bold 
and adventurous sailor who had grown rich by plun- 
dering the merchant ships of Spain, which most En- 
glishmen considered fair spoils for their prowess. In 
1577 he sailed to the Pacific coast of South America, 
pillaged the Spanish settlements in Chili and Peru, 



64 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

and added to his fortune by the seizure of Spanish 
vessels — a course which in these enlightened days 
would be considered little better than piracy. Then he 
sailed up the coast, which he named New Albion, as 
far as Oregon, in the hope of finding a passage from 
the Pacific to the Atlantic, but here his project was 
abandoned, and after circumnavigating the globe be 
returned home and was knighted in recognition of his 
enterprise. 

Attempts were now made to colonize the New 
World. Sir Humphrey Gilbert obtained the neces- 
sary commission from Queen Elizabeth. With his 
half-brother, Walter Raleigh, he started on an expe- 
dition, but returned to England without making land. 

In 1583 Gilbert sailed again with five vessels. 
Raleigh was unable to accompany him on this voy- 
age, but helped in fitting out the fleet. Hardly had 
they set sail when one of their vessels deserted and 
returned home. But with the others Gilbert kept on 
his course and reached Newfoundland. Here the 
expedition became somewhat disorganized. Some of 
the men devoted their time to accumulating a shining 
earth which they thought contained silver. Others 
turned pirates and attacked the vessels on the fishing- 
grounds. One of the ships became unseaworthy. 
Gilbert, however, having succeeded at last in restor- 
ing some order in his company, sailed southward with 
the three vessels which remained. On the coast of 
Massachusetts one of these was lost with a hundred 
men The expedition now started back to England 
in two frail vessels, in the worst of which, the Squirrel, 
Gilbert himself sailed, refusing to leave those who 
had been his companions in previous dangers. A ter- 
rible storm arose, but the vessels kept together for a 
time. Gilbert was heard to shout to the crew of his 
consort, "We are as near heaven by sea as by land." 
That night the lights on the Squirrel suddenly disap- 



ENGLISH EX FLORA TIONS. 65 

peared and not a soul of all on board was saved. 
Longfellow has worthily commemorated this brave- 
hearted sailor in his poem of '' Sir Humphrey Gil- 
bert." 

The other vessel reached England. Not deterred 
by the dreadful tale it brought back, Raleigh ob- 
tained a patent from Elizabeth making him lord pro- 
prietor of the territory from the thirty-third to the 
fortieth degree of latitude, and he dispatched an ex- 
pedition under Amidas and Barlow in 1584. 

These commanders explored Roanoke Island and 
Albemarle and Pamlico sounds, and shortly returned 
to England with glowing accounts of the country and 
the natives. The virgin queen, Elizabeth, named the 
territory '' Virginia " and knighted her favorite, Ra- 
leigh. 

Sir Walter Raleigh was now a member of Parlia- 
ment, where he brought forward a bill confirming 
and enlarging his patent. Amid popular enthusiasm 
he prepared another expedition, on which Sir Richard 
Grenville commanded the seven vessels, and Ralph 
Lane was governor of the colony. In 1585 the fleet 
set sail and reached Roanoke Island, where Lane was 
left with about a hundred colonists. Grenville re- 
turned to England, bringing back as a valuable prize 
a Spanish vessel laden with treasure which he had 
captured. 

The colonists soon had trouble with the natives. 
The Indians of a neighboring town committed some 
trivial offense. The English burnt their village. 
Then some of the colonists were nearly entrapped by 
the treachery of the Indians, in return for which 
several of the Indian chiefs were murdered. The bit- 
ter feeling that was thus engendered among the sur- 
rounding savages rendered the safety of the colony 
very precarious, so that when, in 1586, Sir Francis 
Drake appeared on his way home from one of his 



66 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

expeditions against the Spanish colonies, the English- 
men were glad to take passage in his ship. 

But Raleigh, meanwhile, had not been forgetful of 
his colony. Within a few days after the colony had 
abandoned Roanoke a ship laden with provisions 
reached the site of the settlement, but finding it de- 
serted returned to England. In another fortnight 
Grenville arrived with three vessels and left fifteen 
tnen to retain possession of the island. 

The next year, 1587, another attempt was made to 
establish a permanent colony. Under John White as 
governor a company composed largely of families 
arrived at Roanoke. They learned that the fifteen 
men left there the year before had been murdered by 
the Indians, but nothing daunted they founded the 
city of Raleigh. 

Hostilities were fiercely waged for a time between 
the English and the Indians, but peace was finally 
made, to cement which one of the Indian chiefs was 
made an English nobleman under the title of Lord of 
Roanoke. But provisions running short and the colo- 
nists still fearing the savages. White was induced to 
return to England in August for supplies. Shortly 
before he sailed Virginia Dare was born, the first child 
of English parents in America. From the day that 
White left the colony never a word was heard from 
it or about it. 

Philip of Spain and Elizabeth of England were 
almost continually engaged in war with each other, 
and the former was now preparing the Invincible 
Armada to attack England. Every one was occupied 
with these troubles, and although Raleigh made some 
effort to relieve his colony, he did not succeed At 
last, wearied with his unsuccessful endeavors to estab- 
lish a colony, and after he had spent much money in 
vain, he transferred his rights to some London mer- 
chants. 



ENGLISH EXPLORA TIONS. 67 

The armada having been defeated by the English 
and dispersed by storms, England was relieved from 
her pressing fear. White was now sent to Roanoke. 
The island, when he reached it in the spring of 1590, 
was tenantless of Englishmen. Not a soul of all the 
colonists was ever seen again, and no satisfactory ex- 
planation of their disappearance has ever been given. 
The " Lost Colony of Roanoke " is as much a mystery 
to-day as ever. 

Sir Walter Raleigh lived for many years to benefit 
England with his counsel and his sword, as statesman 
and as soldier, to receive the smile of fortune and her 
frown. He had exhibited much perseverance and 
generosity in his colonizing attempts, though his 
efforts were in vain. His expeditions brought back 
tobacco and potatoes, unknown in Europe before the 
discovery of America, but comforts and necessities to- 
day to millions, and he was one of the first to intro- 
duce smoking in England. It is said that a servant 
unaccustomed to this habit, entering the room one 
day where Raleigh was smoking, dashed a tankard of 
ale over his master and shouted loudly for help to 
prevent him from burning to ashes. 

Nothing more of value was done by English explor- 
ers during the remaining y^ars of this century. But 
in 1602 Bartholomew Gosn^'^ld visited Massachusetts. 
Previous navigators had been accustomed to reach 
America after a roundabout journey by way of the 
Canary Islands and the West Indies. Gosnold was 
the first to launch boldly forth and reach the New 
World by the shortest course. 

He touched at Cape Cod and was the first English- 
man to tread the soil of that part of the coast. Sail- 
ing southward, he and his com'oanions disembarked on 
an island at the entrance of Buzzard's Bay, now known 
as Cuttyhunk, which he called Elizabeth. A cargo 
of sassafras-root, valued for is odor and medicinal 



68 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

properties, was obtained from the natives. Gosnold 
had purposed to found a colony, but at last took home 
with him the intended colonists at their earnest solici- 
tation. Later in our history we shall find Gosnold 
one of the prime movers in establishing the colony of 
Virginia. 

Martin Pring was the next navigator who visited 
America. He sailed in 1603 with merchandise suitable 
for bartering with the natives, and coasted along the 
shores of Maine and Massachusetts till he reached 
Martha's Vineyard. He also obtained a cargo of 
sassafras and returned to England. 

The last name to which we come before England 
established her permanent colonies is that of George 
Weymouth, who in 1605 arrived on the coast of 
Maine and comm.enced trading operations with the 
Indians. 

It was in virtue of these explorations which we 
have narrated that England laid claim to the exten- 
sive region lying between Florida on the south and 
New France on the north, and it was here that she 
soon established the colonies which grew rapidly 
and finally, becoming independent, formed them- 
selves into the United States of America. 

These permanent English settlements, the first of 
which was made in 1607, we shall describe in future 
chapters, delaying our attention for a moment to 
consider the Dutch discoveries. 



D UTCH EXP LOR A TIONS. 69 



CHAPTER VII. 

DUTCH EXPLORATIONS. 

Henry Hudson — His first two voyages — Sails in the Half Moon—* 
Explores the coast — Discovers the Hudson River — Last voy- 
age — Mutiny — His death in Hudson Bay — New Amsterdam 
founded — Block — Christiansen — Dutch claims to territory. 

Sir Henry Hudson was a British navigator and 
made his first two voyages under the patronage of 
London merchants. He was confident that a shorter 
passage than any known one could be found to In- 
dia either around the northern parts of Europe or 
America. In 1607 he sailed to Greenland, reached a 
high latitude and rounded Spitzbergen but then 
found his way blocked by icebergs and was obliged 
to return to England. In 1608 he tried once more to 
find a northeast passage but met only with failure. 

Finding now ^hat the English merchants were dis- 
couraged and would fit out no more expeditions for 
this object, he went to Holland, then a very active 
maritime and mercantile country, and offered his 
services to the Dutch East India Company. His 
offer was accepted and he was given command of a 
vessel called th.Q Half Moo?t. In 1609 he sailed on 
his third voyage to the north. Finding the climate 
there too severe for his men to stand with safety, he 
immediately determined to seek in the northwest 
what he failed to find in the northeast. 

He reached the coast of Maine and sailed south- 
ward past Cape Cod till he came to the Chesapeake. 
Turning again to the north he entered Delaware 



70 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Bay; then continuing his voyage, he reached New 
York harbor in September and discovered the mouth 
of the river that bears his name. 

Up the noble stream, unsurpassed by any in the 
world for the beauty and grandeur of its scenery, 
Hudson sailed. He hoped at first that he had found 
the passage that would lead him through to the 
Pacific, which was much further away than he sus- 
pected. He sailed as far as possible in the Half 
Moon^ and continued in small boats the exploration 
of the river above the site of Albany. Then finding 
that his hopes were groundless, he dropped down the 
stream, bordered by fertile shores, and spread his 
sails for Holland. 

Putting into an English harbor, his vessel was 
detained by King James I. on the ground that the 
crew were Englishmen, but he sent to his employers 
in Holland an enthusiastic account of his voyage and 
discoveries. 

So successful had been his last voyage that English 
merchants were glad to equip him for another. In 
1610 he set sail, to try in still another quarter to find 
the passage to India. He passed through the strait 
that bears his name and entered the vast bay in the 
northern part of our continent. Here at last he 
thought he had actually found what he had searched 
for so long. It was not till his progress was barred 
by the western shore of the bay that he gave up hope. 
The w^eather was severe, his provisions were almost 
consumed. A little longer, however^ and his courage 
and skill would have brought him safely out of these 
dangers. But his crew mutinied, and throwing Hud- 
son, with his son and seven loyal sailors, into an open 
boat, they abandoned them to their fate. The boat 
was never heard of again, and somewhere on the bor- 
dering shores or beneath the waters of Hudson Bay he 
found his grave. 



D U TCII EXPL OR A TIONS. 7 1 

The Dutch soon sent trading expeditions to the 
Hudson River, and in 1614, under a grant from the 
government, a company was sent out who erected a 
permanent fort on Manhattan Island, which they 
named New Amsterdam. 

In the same year Adrian Block sailed throuo^h Long 
Island Sound and proceeded as far as Cape Cod, giv- 
ing his name on the way to Block Island. Shortly 
after, Christiansen built the trading-post of Fort Nas- 
sau, a little below Albany. Southward from New 
Amsterdam explorations were made along the Jersey 
coast and as far as Delaware Bay. 

All the territory between the Chesapeake and Cape 
Cod, to which was soon given the name of New Neth- 
erlands, was now claimed by Holland as the result of 
these settlements and explorations, though England 
and France paid little attention to her claims. The 
Dutch were the last nation to establish a foothold on 
our shores. With the building of Fort Amsterdam 
ive reach the end of the period of exploration. 



72 



HISTORYOF THE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

REVIEW CF THE FIRST PERIOD, 

Contemporaneous events — Spain leads the way in discovery — 
Verrazzano — Narvaez and De Vaca — Cartier and Roberval in 
the north and De Soto in the south — St. Augustine and Me- 
nendez — De Gourgues — Frobisher — Santa Fe founded — Gil- 
bert, Raleigh, and other English navigators — La Roche and 
De Monts in Canada — Champlain — Hudson — The Jesuits — 
Jolliet, Marquette, and La Salle — Difficulties of the early ex- 
plorers — Dangers of the colonists — Trade and relations with 
the Indians — Conflicting claims of European nations to Amer- 
ican territory. 

We have found it most convenient hitherto to fol- 
low separately the explorations of each nation; but we 
must not forget that many of these explorations were 
being pursued in different quarters of our continent 
at the same time. For the first quarter of a century 
after the discovery of the main-land Spain had the 
field to herself, and during that time Ponce de Leon 
discovered Florida, Balboa, standing on '* a peak in 
Darien," looked down on the mighty Pacific, and 
Cortes conquered the opulent empire of Mexico. 

But by this time the French had been attracted to- 
ward America, and in 1524 Verrazzano made his voy- 
age. Then came another Spanish expedition, that 
started in Florida under Narvaez and ended eight 
years later on the Pacific coast under the leadership 
of De Vaca. While this ill-fated expedition was still 
wandering in the wilds of the southwest, Cartier com- 
menced his series of voyages to the St. Lawrence. 
In 1541 Cartier set sail on his third voyage and De 



REVIEW OF THE FIRST PERIOD. 73 

Soto discovered the Mississippi. The next year saw 
the return of Cartier after his failure to plant a col- 
ony and the death of De Soto on the banks of the 
"Great Father of Waters;" while 1543 marks the ar- 
rival of the remnants of De Soto's expedition at the 
Mexican settlements and the end of Roberval's at- 
tempt to plant a colony on the St. Lawrence. 

A score of years later the Huguenots endeavored to 
make settlements on the southern part of the Atlantic 
coast, to which Menendez put a savage end in 1565 by 
massacring the French and founding St. Augustine. 
Two years afterward De Gourgues avenged on the 
Spanish the murder of his countrymen. 

More than three-quarters of a century passed after 
the first voyage of the Cabots before England be- 
stirred herself in the New World. Then Frobisher 
made his voyages to Baffin's Bay and Drake visited 
our western coast. In 1582 Santa Fe was founded 
by the Spanish, and henceforth we hear little of this 
nation. But England, having once become interested 
in the work, prosecuted it with vigor. In 1583 Gil-' 
bert started on the voyage from which he never came 
back. Then Raleigh took up the work and made 
various attempts, though unsuccessful ones, to plant 
a colony on Roanoke Island. In the early years of 
the seventeenth century Gosnold, Pring, and Wey- 
mouth made their voyages, and in 1607, as we shall 
see directly, England established her first permanent 
colony. 

While these last voyages were going on, the French 
colony left by La Roche was dragging out its weary 
existence on Sable Island, and De Monts established 
in 1605 the first permanent colony of France at Port 
Royal, now Annapolis, in Nova Scotia. Then Cham- 
plain founded Quebec, and at the very lime when 
he was fighting the Iroquois on the shores of Lake 
Champlain, the Half Moon was carrying Henry Hud- 
son up the river that bears his name. 



74 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Many years later, during which time the English 
colonies were increasing in numbers and prosperity, 
the Jesuits began the exploration of the interior of 
the continent. Jolliet and Marquette are the first 
names of importance in this work, and then comes 
the famous La Salle, who sailed down the Mississippi 
and in 1687 perished by treachery in the wilderness. 

We can hardly appreciate to-day the difficulties 
which these voyagers and explorers met with and the 
courage and energy they displayed in overcoming 
them. In the sixteenth century it was no holiday 
undertaking to cross in small vessels a wide and 
stormy ocean, to explore an unknown and in many 
parts a dangerous coast, and to land and establish 
colonies with a handful of comrades in the midst of 
hordes of savages. 

But the dangers and obstacles were surmounted 
one after the other, though not without untold suffer- 
ings and the loss of many lives. The Indians fell 
back before European arms or engaged in trade with 
ihe pale-face. The French were singularly successful 
in securing the friendship of the natives, for reasons 
which we have previously pointed out, and they soon 
enjoyed a profitable trade with them. The other 
nations, too, found some benefit from the mercantile 
point of view. 

Utensils of metal, trinkets, guns, ammunition, liquor, 
blankets, and other articles were highly prized by 
the savages and purchased skins far exceeding the 
value of these articles to Europeans. 

But the Indians were not seldom provoked by the 
rapacity or violence of the settlers into frightful acts 
of cruelty and revenge. They became more danger- 
ous, too, by reason of the knowledge and weapons 
which they had obtained from Europeans, so that the 
establishment of colonies involved not only endurance 
at first, but a constant struggle with hardship and 
danger. 



REVIEW OF THE FIRST PERIOD, 75 

Spain, France, England, and Holland, however, 
now had a firm footing in the New World, though 
their claims to territory were often mutually disputed 
and gave rise to much trouble at a later period. 
Florida, extending somewhat to the north of its pres- 
ent limits and as far west as the Mississippi, was held 
by Spain. The English claimed the whole coast, 
which they called Virginia, as far as Labrador, and 
they refused to recognize the Dutch claim to New 
Netherlands, the region between Cape May and Cape 
Cod. The French occupied New France, including 
Acadia, and by virtue of the explorations of La 
Salle claimed the whole region of the Mississippi val- 
ley. This last claim of course arose at a later period 
than the others, but it bore serious consequences in 
the French and Indian War. 

Having now traced the explorations of the Spanish, 
French, and Dutch which gave rise to their territorial 
claims, and having seen their first permanent colonies 
established, we must confine ourselves henceforth to 
the story of the English colonies. Those of other 
nations we shall speak of from time to time, but only 
as they come into the range of United States history. 

The English explorations we have brought up to 
the time when the first permanent colony was about 
to be founded, and with the story of the settlement of 
Virginia we may now resume our narrative. 



Second Period, 



Settlement and Growth. 



SECOND PERIOD. 



CHAPTER IX. 

VIRGINIA UNDER THE FIRST CHARTER. 

the London and Plymouth companies — Their charters — Attempts 
of the Plymouth Company to establish a colony — The London 
Company send out an expedition — Newport, Smith, and 
Wingfield — Jamestown founded — Character of the colonists — 
Troubles of the settlers — Smith saves the colony from starva- 
tion — Explores the Chickahominy — Captured by the Indians — 
His adventures — Saved from death by Pocahontas — Returns 
to the settlement — Its condition — More worthless colonists 
arrive — Smith explores Chesapeake Bay — A brighter pros- 
pect. 

In the year 1606 King James I. issued two patents 
to companies of Englishmen giving them the right to 
own and colonize certain lands in America. To one 
of these associations, organized in London and there- 
fore known as the London Company, was given the 
territory extending from the thirty-fourth to the thir- 
ty-eighth degree of latitude and westward to the Pa- 
cific Ocearl. .The other association, which took the 
name of the Plymouth Company, from the place of 
its organization, Plymouth, England, was to have the 
territory extending from the forty-first to the forty- 
fifth degree of latitude and also westward to the Pa- 
cific. The London grant thus reached from Cape 
Fear to the present southern boundary of Maryland, 



8o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

and the other from the neighborhood of New York 
to Passamaquoddy Bay, and the space between was 
left free for colonization by either company, with the 
proviso that rival settlements were not to be made 
within a hundred miles of each other. 

Gosnold, whose name we have already met, was one 
of the foremost spirits in the London Company, the 
famous John Smith was another, and there were many 
callings and conditions of life represented among the 
members. The charter provided no opportunity for 
self-government. A Superior Council in England 
and an Inferior Council in America, the members of 
each chosen by the king, were to direct the company, 
but all legislative power was reserved to the crown. 

The Plymouth Company made the first attempt at 
settlement. In a few months after their charter was 
granted an exploring ship was dispatched which was 
captured by a Spanish man-of-war. Another vessel, 
however, sent soon after, spent the winter on our 
coast. In the next year, 1607, an attempt was made 
to found a colony. A number of settlers were left 
on the Kennebec River, who suffered much from cold 
and lack of food during the winter and returned to 
England the next summer. And here, for the pres- 
ent, we shall leave the Plymouth Company. 

It was the London Company, however, that was 
destined to plant the first English colony in America. 

In December, 1606, three vessels were sent out by 
this company under the command of Christopher 
Newport, carrying 105 colonists, among whom were 
Captain John Smith and Edward Wingfield. New- 
port, taking the roundabout voyage by way of the 
Canaries and the West Indies, did not reach our coast 
till April. Then a storm drove the colonists past 
Roanoke Island, which was their objective point, into 
Chesapeake Bay. Entering the James River (named 
in honor of their king), they disembarked about fifty 



VIRGINIA UNDER THE FIRST CHARTER 8i 

miles from its mouth. Here, on the 13th of May, 
1607, Jamestown was founded and the first perma- 
nent English settlement was begun. 

The conduct of the company on the voyage to the 
New World did not augur well for the success of the 
colony. The names of the council were contained in 
sealed instructions, which were not to be opened till 
their destination was reached. So with no one in 
authority there was little harmony. Smith was ac- 
cused of aiming to acquire sole power in the colony, 
and was arrested. At last the end of the journey was 
reached, the names of the council were discovered, 
and Wingfield was elected by his fellow-members as 
governor of Virginia. Smith now demanded a trial, 
which resulted in his acquittal. He therefore took 
his seat as a member of the council, to which he had 
been appointed. 

The material composing the colony was of almost 
the worst possible sort to contend with the neces- 
sary hardships. Houses were to be built, ground 
cultivated, and much manual labor to be performed. 
The forty-eight gentlemen of the company were not 
sufficiently balanced by the dozen carpenters, ma- 
sons, and blacksmiths who were the only common 
laborers that accompanied the expedition. The re- 
mainder of the colonists were lazy and shiftless, and 
no one had brought his family. 

The colony, however, began to settle into some 
shape, and Smith felt that he could leave it for a 
short time. So, taking a few men with him, he start- 
ed on an exploring expedition up the James River. 
They reached the site of Richmond, which was then 
occupied by a small village, the residence of the In- 
dian king Powhatan, who received the Europeans 
kindly. Smith soon led his company back to James- 
town. 

A fortnight after his return Newport sailed for 



82 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



England, with earnest injunctions from Smith to 
bring back with him sober and steady colonists who 
were accustomed to manual labor. During the sum- 
mer the colonists managed to get along comparative- 
ly well, but in the early autumn disease broke out 
among them that reduced their effective strength 
and, before the frosts of winter checked its progress, 
carried off Gosnold and half of the colonists. 

Nor was this the sole trouble that affected James- 
town. Wingfield and another member of the council 
were detected in helping them- 
selves from the common store 
of the colonists and were re- 
moved from office. By this 
time the council was reduced 
to three members — Ratcliffe, 
who was chosen president, Mar- 
tin, and Smith. Ratcliffe was 
soon detected in endeavoring to 
abandon the colony and gave 
up his office. Martin now went 
through the formality of elect- 
ing as president his sole remain- 
ing colleague. Smith. The new 
head of the colony was a young 
man for the responsibility that he was called on to 
assume, but though only twenty-nine years of age, 
he had passed a varied life as soldier and traveler in 
many countries of Europe and had gathered much 
experience. His ability, wisdom, and energy were 
now recognized by the colony and soon gave a favor- 
able turn to its affairs. He improved the fortifica- 
tions and the houses. But there was nothing with 
which to fill the store-house w'hich he built. He de- 
termined to obtain from the Indians the corn which 
me settlers had failed to raise but which was neces- 
sary to their life during the approaching winter. 




JOHN SMITH. 



VIRGIXIA UNDER THE FIRST CHARTER, 83 

He descended the James with a handful of com- 
panions and endeavored to obtain the desired food 
from the Indians by barter. Finding his efforts use- 
less by this means, he attacked the savages and final- 
ly forced them into loading his boat with corn, with 
which he returned to Jamestown. Other tribes now 
brought in provisions of their own accord, for the 
past summer had given them a plentiful harvest, and 
several of these tribes became friends of the English. 
Game in plenty was found in the woods, and starva- 
tion during the winter was no longer feared. 

Smith soon started on an exploring tour up the 
Chickahominy River with six of the colonists and 
two Indian guides. When the shoaling of the water 
rendered the further advance of his large boat im- 
possible, he left it, with four Englishmen as a guard, 
and proceeded in a canoe. This also was brought to 
a stand-still at length, and leaving his two comrades 
to watch it. Smith pursued his way on foot with the 
two guides. The men who were left at the first sta- 
tion, wandering from their charge, were attacked by 
the Indians and three of them killed. The fourth 
was tortured till he indicated the course Smith had 
taken. The savages fell upon and put to death his 
two comrades further up the stream and then started 
in pursuit of Smith. He was attacked and wounded, 
but fought with bravery and the strength of despair 
till he was finally overcome and captured. 

Smith's ingenuity, however, did not desert him. 
When taken before the Indian chief he excited much 
awe among the untutored savages by the exhibition 
of his compass and watch, and interested them by his 
knowledge of astronomy. At length they tied him 
to a tree and prepared to shoot him, but he so ex- 
cited their superstitious fears by a mystic flourishing 
of his compass that they spared his life for the time 
being. 



84 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

He was now taken to an Indian town near Rich- 
mond, where he found the natives meditating an at- 
tack on Jamestown. He of course refused the invita- 
tion they extended to him to assist in their under- 
taking against his countrymen. He persuaded them, 
however, to allow him to send a letter to his friends, 
and this ability of representing his thoughts by writ- 




POCAHONTAS. 



ten signs added to the awe with which they regarded 
him. When the Indian messengers reached James- 
town and delivered the letter, the colonists, in ac- 
cordance with one of the requests it contained, ex- 
hibited the force of their weapons and the resources 
of the settlement, which, poor as they were, wonder- 
fully impressed the messengers. They returned with 



VIRGINIA UNDER THE FIRST CHARTER. 85 

Stories that frightened the Indians out of their inten- 
tion to attack the colony. 

Smith was taken from place to place and finally 
condemned to death by the Indian priests. Then he 
was carried before Powhatan, who confirmed the sen- 
tence. Smith was bound and his head placed on a 
stone. A warrior raised his war-club to dash out his 
brains. The assembled Indians watched eagerly with 
ferocious eyes. But moved by some impulse of pity or 
admiration, Pocahontas, the young daughter of Pow- 
hatan, rushed to place herself between Smith and his 
executioner. Her appeals for the release of the En- 
glishman finally prevailed, and Powhatan ordered him 
to be unbound. Such, at least, is the dramatic story 
of Smith's rescue which' was told in later years. 
Much discussion has not sufficed to prove its truth 
or falsity. It is at all events romantic and touching, 
and deserves to be repeated for what it is worth be- 
cause it is familiar to every reader of the history of 
our country. 

Powhatan before long allowed Smith to return to 
Jamestown. He took with him some of the Indians, 
and sent them back with a marvelous account of the 
power of the English. 

There were left in the colony now but thirty-eight 
men, who had sufferea extremely during the weeks of 
Smith's absence. Thoroughly disheartened, they had 
prepared to leave Jamestown at the opening of spring. 
Smith forced them to give up this scheme of aban- 
donment, but he excited much enmity thereby. New 
hope, however, was soon given to the settlement by 
the arrival of Newport with plentiful provisions and 
120 colonists. Despite Smith's requests, men as 
worthless as the original company had been sent. 

A gold-fever soon spread among them, following 
the finding of dirt that glittered with supposed grains 
of the precious metal. While the majority of the 



S6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

colonists were wasting their time in searching for gold 
and other fruitless experiments, Smith left the colony 
in the early part of June on an expedition to explore 
Chesapeake Bay. He took with him fourteen com- 
rades and was gone seven weeks, during which time 
he cruised as far north as the Patapsco River, in Mary- 
land, and sailed some distance up the Potomac. 

After a few days he started on a second cruise over 
much the same waters. This time he reached the Sus- 
quehanna River and sailed up that stream as far as 
his boat would go. He ascended the Rappahannock 
also, and returned to Jamestown early in Septem- 
ber. He had now explored 3,000 miles of coast in 
the Chesapeake and made a map of the shore, which is 
preserved to this day. 

On his return to the colony in the fall of 1608 he 
was formally elected president of the colony, and ad- 
ministered its affairs with energy and discretion. In 
the autumn Newport arrived with seventy more set- 
tlers. Smith carried his colony of more than 200 
men through the winter with only seven deaths. 
Every one was obliged to work, and the colony was at 
last in as prosperous a condition as possible. 



VIRGINIA— SECOiXD AND THIRD CHARTERS. Sj 



CHAPTER X. 

VIRGINIA UNDER THE SECOND AND THIRD CHARTERS. 

A second charter granted — De la Ware made governor — Trouble 
in the colony — Smith is wounded — Leaves Virginia — The 
" Starving Time " — Sir Thomas Gates — Jamestown deserted — 
De la Ware arrives — Dale and Gates — A third charter 
granted — Marriage of Pocahontas — Argall's expedition against 
the French — Is made deputy-governor — Yeardley's governor- 
ship — The house of burgesses — Slavery introduced — Family 
life begins — A constitution given to Virginia — Indian mas- 
sacre. 

A new charter, which superseded the old one, was 
given to the London Company by King James in 
May, 1609. The territory of the company was ex- 
tended northward to Sandy Hook and had the same 
extent westward as before, namely, to the Pacific. 
The stockholders were empowered to elect the mem- 
bers of the Superior Council, who in turn were to 
choose one of their own members as governor. 

In pursuance of this plan Lord De la Ware was 
elected governor for life and a new lot of colonists 
were at once sent out. Nine vessels, setting sail in 
June, 1609, conveyed the 500 emigrants. 

The governor himself did not sail in the fleet, but 
sent three commissioners to represent his authority. 
One of the vessels was lost, and another, that bore the 
commissioners, went ashore on the Bermudas, and 
there its crew remained till the next year. So it fell 
out that only seven vessels reached Jamestown. 

Soon after this new batch of emigrants arrived the 
affairs of the colony became disorganized. There was 



88 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

no person legally empowered to represent the new 
government. Smith was urged to continue in his 
office of president, and he determined to do so until 
he was replaced by some authorized person from 
England. There was considerable dissatisfaction with 
him, however, and his life was in no little peril. He 
was therefore obliged to arrest some of the factious 
spirits, and then planned two new settlements to occu- 
py the attention of the colonists. 

One of these settlements was established at the 
falls of the James River, but trouble arose at once 
between the English and the Indians. Smith pro- 
ceeded to the spot to smooth matters over, but he was 
unsuccessful. On his way back to Jamestown he was 
severely wounded by an explosion of gunpowder. 
After suffering intensely for some time, without find- 
ing the medical skill which the colony furnished suf- 
ficient to effect his cure, he departed for England in 
September, 1609, leaving Sir George Percy in com- 
mand of the colony. He never returned to James- 
town, but we shall hear of him again in connection 
with the Plymouth Company. 

Without Smith's able guidance the affairs of the 
colony, which promised well at his departure, took a 
downward course. Improvidence and insubordina- 
tion prevailed. The Indians became bold and at- 
tacked the outlying plantations. Provisions were 
wasted, and a bitter winter brought disease and suf- 
fering. This season was long known in the history of 
Virginia as the " Starving Time." In March there 
remained but sixty persons of the 499 whom Smith 
had left six months before. 

Such was the pitiable state of the colony when it 
received some slight encouragement by the arrival of 
the men who had been wrecked on the Bermudas the 
previous year. Sir Thomas Gates, one of the com- 
missioners whom Lord De la Ware had appointed, was 



VIRGINIA— SECOND AND THIRD CHARTERS. 89 

among them. He took the reins of government into 
his own hands, but the colonists were worn out with 
their struggles for life during the past winter and in- 
sisted on abandoning Jamestown. So clamorous was 
their appeal that the commissioners finally agreed 
to give up the colony and to sail for Newfoundland, 
where they hoped to find vessels to convey them back 
to England. They themselves had nothing large and 
staunch enough to stand a voyage across the Atlantic. 

It was the 8th day of June, 1610. The colonists at- 
tempted to burn the village, which had grown hateful 
to them with its memory of suffering and death, but 
were prevented by Gates. Then embarking in their 
small vessels they left Jamestown behind them, as 
they supposed, forever. 

But a surprise was in store for them. At the 
mouth of the James they caught sight of vessels sent 
from England with more colonists and supplies and 
bearing the governor, Lord De la Ware, himself. With 
him they returned to Jamestown on the same day 
which they had thought marked its final abandon- 
ment. 

Lord De la Ware was a man of fine character. He 
ruled the colony kindly though firmly and was liked 
by all the settlers. But in the autumn he was com- 
pelled to return to England by sickness, leaving in 
command, as Smith had done, Sir George Percy. 

Before the Superior Council, however, heard of his 
departure for home, they had sent out more colonists 
and provisions. Sir Thomas Dale led this expedi- 
tion, and on reaching Jamestown in May, 161 1, he 
superseded Percy by virtue of his commission from 
the council. 

Dale was a soldier and established a military sys- 
tem of government, but his justice and fairness pre- 
vented any trouble. He saw the necessities of the 
colony at once and promptly wrote the council for 



90 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

re-enforcements of men and supplies. In response 
to this request Sir Thomas Gates was sent to the 
colony as governor with six ships. 

The colonists now numbered 700. The land, which 
had heretofore been held in common by the colonists, 
was apportioned, so that each might have some to call 
his own. Under this arrangement they took more of 
a personal interest in the success of the settlement. 
Smaller colonies were established on the James, and 
Virginia entered on the period of its growth. 

A further benefit now accrued to the colony, more, 
however, from its tendency toward a representative 
government than from its immediate results. This 
was a third charter, which was granted by King 
James in 1612. The Superior Council was dispensed 
with and the stockholders of the London Company 
were empowered to hold meetings, to discuss the 
affairs of the colony, and to govern it directly them- 
selves. 

To return to Jamestown. In 1613 Pocahontas was 
kidnaped by Captain Argall and brought to the set- 
tlement. Powhatan was informed that he must pay 
a ransom for his daughter's release. Incensed by this 
insult and injury, he prepared for war. But Poca- 
hontas was in the meantime converted to Christianity 
and baptized. Her hand was then sought in mar- 
riage by one of the colonists, John Rolfe by name, 
Powhatan consented to the marriage and thus was 
made an ally of the colony. Rolfe afterward took his 
wife to England, where she was presented at court 
and attracted favorable attention. She did not live 
long, however, but left a son, who afterward returned 
to Jamestown and became a prominent man in Vir- 
ginia, where he foundc-l a family that was noted in 
later times. 

Meanwhile Captain Argall had been sent to put an 
end to French colonization between Massachusetts 



VIRGINIA— SECOND AND THIRD CHARTERS. 91 

and Nova Scotia, so that the coast might be left clear 
for the operations of English fishermen. He suc- 
ceeded in destroying a French settlement on Mount 
Desert Island. On a second trip he laid waste the 
French colony at the mouth of the St. Croix River, 
burned Port Royal, on the other side of the bay, at 
that time a deserted village, and on his way back to 
Jamestown made an attack on the Dutch on Manhat- 
tan Island. His expeditions, though cruelly con- 
ducted, had the important result of confining French 
activity to the St. Lawrence. Sir Thomas Gates left 
the colony in 1614 to return home. Dale now held 
the chief command for a couple of years, in which 
time the colony enjoyed much prosperity. It was 
during this period that the cultivation of tobacco was 
substituted for the manufacture of potash, soap, tar, 
and glass, which had previously occupied the labor of 
the colonists. So extensively was tobacco raised and 
so uniform was its value that it was used at times as 
money. 

In 1617 Captain Argall was made deputy-governor. 
As might have been expected, he oppressed the colo- 
nists. He was avaricious and grew rich by plunder- 
ing the charge committed to his care. So great was 
the disrepute into which the colony fell under his rule 
that Lord De la Ware himself started for America. But 
he died on the voyage, and Argall's misrule continued 
till he was succeeded in 1619 by Sir George Yeardley. 
He returned to England wealthy from his ill-gotten 
gains. 

Yeardley made a capital governor. He adopted 
several measures which were to the advantage of the 
colony. One of these was to divide the plantations 
into sections and to call on the residents of each of 
these boroughs to choose two delegates to a rude kind 
of legislature. This body, the Virginia House of 
Burgesses, met for the first time on July 30, 1619. 



92 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

This was the commencement of representative gov- 
ernment in America. But the members of this as- 
sembly had little power beyond the right of free de- 
bate. The sanction of the home company was nec- 
essary to the enforcement of any law they might pass. 
Still it was along step in the right direction. 

The same year that saw the commencement of rep- 
resentative government in America beheld also the 
introduction of negro slavery. A Dutch vessel com- 
ing to the colony brought twenty negroes, who were 
bought at auction by some of the settlers and made 
slaves. It is not a little curious that one institution 
so valuable and another so evil should have their 
origin in America within a month of each other — both 
destined to enter into the very life of American civil- 
ization and to wax greater in power side by side until, 
nearly two centuries and a half afterward, a fierce 
struggle should arise, as a result of Vv^hich the one has 
become a universal principle in the land and the other 
has become to the present generation a mere matter 
of history. 

In 1620 over 1,200 immigrants arrived, who trebled 
the number of colonists. Ninety young women of 
good character were also sent, who became wives to 
the planters. Each settler who chose a wife was 
taxed 120 pounds of tobacco to pay the expense of her 
transportation, from which fact has arisen the asser- 
tion that the colonists bought their wives. The next 
year sixty more arrived, and family life became estab- 
lished in Virginia. 

The London Company, in 162 1, gave a written con- 
stitution to the colony which confirmed and enlarged 
the powers of the representative government and 
secured the right of trial by jury. At the same time 
Yeardley was succeeded by Sir Francis Wyatt as 
governor. 

Virginia was now a flourishing colony, with James- 



VIRGINIA— SECOND AND THIRD CHARTERS. 93 

town as its principal town and many smaller settle- 
ments along the James and in the interior.- But its 
peace was to be disturbed in a frightful manner. 
Powhatan, the faithful friend of the English, was 
dead, and the Indians resolved, in 1622, to make a 
mighty effort to drive out the pale-face, before whose 
power they saw their own race was destined to perish. 

They entered the settlements in small bodies, ap- 
parently bent as usual on trading. Suddenly, at a 
given time, they fell upon the English, and massacre, 
without pity, without quarter, ensued. But fortu- 
nately Jamestown and some other of the larger settle- 
ments had received notice of the Indians' design 
through the loyalty of a native to a white man who 
had befriended him. Had it not been for this warn- 
ing the colony might have perished utterly. As it 
was, the horrid work had gone far enough. Eight of 
the eighty settlements had been destroyed and 347 
men, women, and children massacred. 

As soon as the English recovered from the sudden- 
ness of this blow they avenged the murder of their 
countrymen. Soldiers were sent in every direction 
to fight the Indians, till the savages, severely pun- 
ished, were driven away. 

The colony then speedily regained its lost ground 
and grew rapidly in numbers and prosperity. Under 
the third charter great advances had been made in 
every way. 



C|4 JUS TOR Y OF THE UNITED STA TES. 



CHAPTER XI. 

VIRGINIA A ROYAL PROVINCE. 

The charter of Virginia withdrawn — Various governors — Land 
troubles — The civil war in England — Oliver Cromwell — Mon- 
archy restored — Religious troubles in Virginia — Indian out- 
break — The Navigation Act — Reconciliation between Parlia- 
ment and Virginia — Berkeley made governor — Royal oppres- 
sion — Culpepper and Arlington become proprietors — " Bacon's 
Rebellion" — Culpepper becomes governor — Virginia once more 
a royal colony — William and Mary College founded. 

At this time in England many of King James' sub- 
jects were dissatisfied with his government. There 
were many patriots who considered that he acted un- 
wisely and tyranically. Of this way of thinking were 
the larger part of the members of the London Com- 
pany. In their meetings they exercised a freedom of 
debate on Virginian affairs that often extended to their 
own government. All this did not please King 
James, and he appointed a commission to investigate 
the affairs of the company. This commission dis- 
covered, or said they discovered, that the London 
Company was in a corrupt condition, financially and 
politically. The question was brought into court, 
where it was decided that the charter of the corpora- 
tion was null and void. King James, therefore, in 
June, 1624, withdrew the charter, and Virginia coming 
under the immediate authority of the crown, became 
a royal province, and so it remained, with little inter- 
ruption, till the Revolution. 

The colony of Virginia at first felt this change 
very slightly. Its General Assembly was continued, 



VIRGINIA A ROYAL PROVINCE. 95 

Wyatt was retained as governor, and to make up the 
council of twelve, the king appointed those who were 
friendly to the colony. Even under Charles I., who 
succeeded his father, King James, in 1625, there was 
little interference with colonial affairs. It was not 
till Charles tried to obtain the monopoly of the profit- 
able tobacco trade that any disagreement arose, and 
the colonists soon secured the settlement of this ques- 
tion in their own favor. 

In 1626 Wyatt was succeeded by Yeardley as gov- 
ernor. But the latter died the next year, and the 
council, as they were permitted to do in such a case, 
chose Francis West to hold that office till a new gov- 
ernor could be sent from England. Charles ap- 
pointed John Harvey, who arrived in 1629. 

Difficulties now arose in Virginia about titles to 
land. Many of the colonists had built their homes 
on. lands that were claimed by others in virtue of old 
grants. Harvey soon made himself obnoxious and 
unpopular by favoring the land monopolists, to the 
discomfort of the less wealthy settlers. Affairs 
finally reached such a state that the assembly and a 
majority of the council in 1635 resolved that Harvey 
be impeached and that West should be their governor 
till the king could be heard from. 

But Charles, treating the whole affair in the same 
high-handed way that afterward cost him his life, 
refused to have Harvey tried and sent him back to 
Virginia as governor. There he remained till 1639, 
when Wyatt took the office once more. 

Meanwhile a political crisis was approaching in 
England, without a knowledge of which we cannot 
understand the history of Virginia and the other col- 
onies. The self-will and haughtiness of James I. was 
followed by the obstinacy and oppression of Charles 
I. Patriots had made themselves heard in the reign 
of the former; they made themselves felt in the reign 



g6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

of the latter. Parliament was upheld in its opposi- 
tion to the king by those who held liberal notions 
in politics and dissented from the religion of the Es- 
tablished Church. The conservatives in religious 
and political matters, royalists and high churchmen, 
supported Charles. The conflict of words was fol- 
lowed in 1642 by a civil war. After varying success 
for some years victory perched on the Parliament- 
ary banner, the royalists were defeated, and the king 
fell into the hands ot his enemies. He was tried be- 
fore a court organized for the purpose, and in accord- 
ance with the findings of this tribunal was beheaded 
in 1649. 

During the civil war one person had risen to par- 
ticular distinction on the Parliamentary side. Oliver 
Cromwell was a man of great ability and energy. 
The government being declared no longer a mon- 
archy, Cromwell was made Lord Protector of the 
Commonwealth. With wonderful skill, wisdom, and 
success he ruled the nation in its domestic and for- 
eign relations till his death in 1658. His son Richard 
succeeded to his office, but was of less stalwart mind 
than his father. Growing timorous at the attempts 
made by the royalists to regain possession of the 
government, and failing to obtain that firm and guid- 
ing hold on the nation's affairs which was neces- 
sary at this time, he at last resigned. Confusion fol- 
lowed for a season, till finally the army, the people, 
and Parliament, desirous of rest from the excitement 
and turmoil of the past eighteen years, welcomed to 
the throne the son of Charles I.; and in 1660 Charles 
n. received the crown his father had lost. Such is a 
brief outline of one of the most important struf^gles 
in English history, 

Virginia was necessarily affected by the course of 
events in England, though not to any considerable 
extent till after the execution o f C harles I. Sir Will- 



VIRGIiVIA A ROYAL PROVINCE. 97 

iam Berkeley was governor fro/n 1641 to 165 1. He 
was a royalist and the colonists were mostly in sym- 
pathy with the royal cause. B.ut the struggle was 
fought out in England, and Virginia, which was now 
in large measure an independent 'state, was well ad- 
vanced on its prosperous course. The laws were 
changed for the better, cruel punishments abolished, 
taxes levied more fairly, and the land troubles 
ended. 

But in one respect Virginia took a backward step. 
The Episcopal Church was made the only legal relig- 
ion, and the dissenters, whose brethren of the same 
faith were making themselves obnoxious to the royal- 
ists in England, werrj much oppressed. They were 
prohibited from preaching their doctrines, were de- 
prived of offices which they held, and were in some 
instances even driven from home. New England, as 
we shall soon learn, had been settled by the Puritans, 
and this persecution of their faith suspended for a 
long time the friendship which had previously existed 
between those colonies and Virginia. 

In 1644 trouble arose again with the Indians, who 
thought the time opportune for another effort to re- 
gain their lands and drive out the English. They fell 
on the outlying settlements, and with their usual 
ferocity massacred 300 of the pioneers. Again the 
English administered a severe punishment on the 
savages, forced them into peace, and secured more of 
their lands. 

The English royalists never admitted for a moment 
the legality of the proceedings by which Charles I. 
had been put to death and the government declared 
a commonwealth. They insisted always that Charles 
II. was king of England, though in exile. Virginia 
was of the same way of thinking and proclaimed him 
king. The colony of course incurred Cromwell's dis- 
pleasure by this conduct. In 165 1 the Navigation 



pg HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Act was passed by Parliament, which compelled the 
Virginians to carry on their commerce solely by means 
of English vessels and with English ports. 

This was a serious blow, but it did not bring the 
colony to terms. Now a naval force was sent to over- 
awe the colonists. They refused to submit to force, 
but seeinghow useless it was to persist in their course, 
expressed themselves as willing to make terms with 
the commissioners whom Cromwell had been wise 
enough to send with the requisite authority. On the 
one side Virginia acknowledged the supremacy of 
Parliament; on the other, the restrictions on com- 
merce were abolished and the assembly of the colony 
was made the sole authority in levying taxes. 

This ended the conflict between the Commonwealth 
and Virginia. The colony was allowed to regulate its 
own affairs unhindered. It had even elected four 
governors before Charles II. came to the throne in 
1660. The last of these was Sir William Berkeley. 
When monarchy was restored in England he was con- 
tinued in office by the king, and the royalists rejoiced 
at being once more under the sway of the crown. 

The change, however, did not profit the colony. It 
was once more enacted that English ships should do 
all the carrying-trade of Virginia, and a severe tax 
was imposed on its commerce. Moreover, the colo- 
nists were forced to sell all their tobacco, the most 
valuable product of Virginia, in England, which pre- 
vented their securing as high prices for it as they 
could have done in the unrestricted market of the 
world. 

Nor was this all. Charles II., selfish, proud, and 
domineering, made no scruple of granting even occu- 
pied and cultivated lands to his favorites at court. 
Finally, in 1673, the king made over the whole of Vir- 
ginia for thirty-one years to two noblemen. Lord Cul- 
pepper and the Earl of Arlington. 



VIRGINIA A ROYAL PROVINCE. 99 

Meanwhile two parties were arising in Virginia, 
which soon came into collision. The officials and the 
richer classes formed the aristocratic party, and the 
common people, the bone and sinew of the colony, 
composed the other. Berkeley belonged to the former. 
He loved to surround himself with all the state and 
ceremony which he thought befitted his office. He 
enjoyed the monopoly of trade with the Indians. He 
cared little for the welfare of the colony and the bulk 
of the community. Public improvements, the build- 
ing of roads, bridges, and the like, received no encour- 
agement at his hands. General education did not 
meet with his favor. " I thank God," said he, " that 
there are no free schools nor printing-presses here, 
and I hope we shall not have them these hundred 
years." 

With such a leader the colony could not prosper. 
The aristocrats acquired the balance of power in the 
assembly. The religious toleration which had existed 
during the commonwealth came to an end. Episco- 
palianism became once more the only authorized re- 
ligion, and other sects were persecuted with fines and 
imprisonment. Taxes were unfairly levied so as to 
favor the rich and oppress the poor. 

These proceedings naturally incensed the mass of 
the colonists. An opportunity only was lacking to 
array the people against the governor. It came at 
last. The Indians attacked the remote settlements. 
The English in Virginia and Maryland united in 
punishing them. The savages sent some of their 
number into Virginia to ask for peace. To the dis- 
grace of the colony, these representatives were put to 
death, and the Indians renewed their atrocities in re- 
venge. 

Berkeley now interfered to secure peace. He claimed 
that the colonists had acted treacherously in mur- 
dering the Indian embassadors. But the colonists 



lOO HISTOR Y OF THE UNITED STA TES. 

had suffered too much at the hands of the savages to 
be influenced by this argument, and perhaps thought 
that Berkeley chiefly feared the ruin of trade with the 
natives, which would deprive him of the advantages 
of his monopoly. At any rate they insisted on a 
campaign against the savages. Berkeley refused to 
send soldiers. Then the people took the matter into 
their own hands. 

They found a leader in Nathaniel Bacon, a man of 
only thirty-three years of age and of short residence 
in the colony, but brave, sagacious, and of wide ex- 
perience. In 1676* he gathered a force of several hun- 
dred colonists and began his march against the In- 
dians. Berkeley proclaimed him a traitor, but was pre- 
vented from following him by a popular demonstra- 
tion. The old assembly came to an end, and a new 
one, of which Bacon was a member, was elected by 
universal suffrage, and the people forced the gov- 
ernor, much against his will, to grant a commission 
to Bacon. 

The popular leader now marched against the In- 
dians and restored peace, but civil strife was not as 
easily settled. Berkeley crossed to the eastern shore 
of the Chesapeake and organized a force, with which 
he returned and entered Jamestown. On the ap- 
proach of Bacon, however, many of the governor's 
soldiers went over to the popular side, and Berkeley 
had to leave the town. A report arose that an En- 
glish fleet was in the neighborhood which would 
assist the governor. So the patriots set fire to their 
own houses to prevent their falling again into the 
enemy's possession. 

The assembly had declared that Berkeley's flight 
across the Chesapeake was a virtual abandonment of 
his office, and they decided to take the government into 
their own hands. This was the state of affairs when 
Bacon suddenly died, in 1677. 



VIRGINIA A ROYAL PROVINCE. loi 

So ended *' Bacon's Rebellion," as it was long 
called. Without their leader the people had little 
power. For a year they had been defying the gov- 
ernor's authority, and he determined to punish them 
severely. As soon as his authority was restored he 
set about accomplishing his object. Some he fined, 
the lands of others he confiscated, and, worst of all, 
twenty-two of the leaders were arrested and hung as 
traitors. It was a frightful revenge. Charles II. is 
said to have exclaimed, on hearing of Berkeley's con- 
duct, "The old fool has taken away more lives in that 
naked country than I for the murder of my father." 

Bacon had made a noble effort in a good cause, and 
his name will be remembered as one of the earliest of 
our long line of popular patriots. His death occurred 
at an unfortunate time. Berkeley regained more than 
his old ascendency and oppressed the people more 
than ever, till he was recalled by King Charles in this 
same year, 1677. 

Lord Culpepper, one of the joint proprietors of 
Virginia, had secured the appointment of governor 
for life. He did not reach the colony, however, till 
1680. His arrival was the commencement of a hard 
time for the colonists. Being avaricious he fleeced 
them, and being a tyrant he oppressed them. Once 
more the people were vexed into discontent. Cul- 
pepper acquired Arlington's share of Virginia, and 
the prospect looked still more gloomy for the people. 
But in 1684 Charles II. took means to deprive Cul- 
pepper of his proprietary rights, and Virginia became 
once more a royal province. 

Sir Edmund Andros, whom we shall read of soon 
in the story of the New England colonies, was gov- 
ernor of Virginia from 1692 to 1698. During his ad- 
ministration William and Mary College was founded 
near Williamsburg in 1693. With the exception of 
Harvard University, this is the oldest seat of learning 
in the United States. 



I02 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

From this time on till the spirit of the Revolution 
began to stir through the land, we shall not need to 
trace the history of Virginia in detail. We have fol- 
lowed for nearly a century the struggles and the trials 
of the first English colony in America, till we have 
seen it finally established and growing in population, 
wealth, and importance. We may now pass on to 
the history of the other colonies. 



MA SSA CHUSE TTS—FL YMO U TH COL ON V. 1 03 



CHAPTER XII. 

MASSACHUSETTS PLYMOUTH COLONY. 

Smith's attempts to colonize New England — Explores the coast — 
The council of Plymouth — The Puritans — They leave Eng- 
land and become Pilgri us — Sail in \.\iQ. Alayjlower — Plymouth 
founded — Hardships — Relatibns with the Indians — Attempt 
to settle at Weymouth — Miles Standish — Financial troubles 
with the London partners — The Pilgrims obtain complete con- 
trol of the colony. 

It will be remembered that in 1606 King James 
granted the territory lying between the forty-first 
and forty-fifth degrees of latitude, from the Atlantic 
to the Pacific, to the Plymouth Company, and that 
in this year and the next vain attempts had been 
made to effect a settlement. 

For several years after this little was done by the 
company. In 1609, as we know. Captain John Smith, 
wounded in Virginia, returned to England. As his 
health was restored, his activity sought new fields for 
work. He saw an opportunity for establishing trade 
with the Indians and making settlements within the 
Plymouth Company's territory. With this object in 
view he formed a partnership with London merchants, 
and in 1614 sailed with two ships laden with merchan- 
dise for trading purposes. 

His men opened trading operations with the na- 
tives and engaged in fishing. But Smith had a mind 
for practical discovery as well. He therefore set 
about the task, which, as might have been expected, 
he performed thoroughly, of exploring and making a 



104 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATE. 



chart of the coast from the Penobscot to Cape Cod. 
In this map he called the country New England. 

In the autumn the vessels returned to England, and 
their story of success caused another ship to be sent 
the next year with a small company. Nothing came 
of this expedition, however. The vessel encountered 
a severe storm near our coast and was obliged to re- 
turn home. 

Smith was not a man to be baffled by disaster. He 
at once organized another expedition and started 
again for the New World. On the voyage his ship 
was captured by a piratical French craft and he was 
taken prisoner to Rochelle. In an open boat he 
made his escape, and after his return to England 
published a glowing account of New England, and 
made efforts to secure the colonization of this re- 
gion. 

But obstacles arose and no colonists were sent out. 
At last, in November, 1620, the ki*ng replaced the 
Plymouth Company by the Council of Plymouth. 
To this council, composed of forty rich and eminent 
men, was given outright the territory from the 
fortieth to the forty-eighth degree of latitude, with 
possession of the fisheries and complete power of 
government. Smith was made admiral of New Eng- 
land for life, and as such his name is last mentioned 
in our history. He had done a noble work in con- 
ducting the affairs of the Jamestown colony, in direct- 
ing attention to New England as a good field for 
settlement, and in exploring the Chesapeake and our 
northern coast. 

The first permanent settlement, however, within 
the limits of New England was not destined to be 
made by the Plymouth Company or the Council of 
Plymouth. It was, in fact, established without their 
consent. To see how this result came about, we 
must look for a moment at the history of England 
for some years previous to this time. 



MA SSA CHUSE TTS—PL YMO UTH COL ON V. 1 05 

The Church of England, which during the reign of 
Elizabeth became firmly established as the national 
authority in religious matters, was only less tolerant 
of dissension from its doctrines than the Church of 
Rome. Those who refused to admit its final author- 
ity, insisted on interpreting the Bible for themselves, 
and demanded the right of fixing their own method of 
worship, were considered little better than heretics. 

From their austere life, their inculcation of what 
they thought a purer morality, and their claim that 
their beliefs and practices were more in accord with 
the Scriptures than those of the ruling church, they 
acquired the name of Puritans. Loyal subjects they 
were, but given to expressing their minds with free- 
dom and exhibiting an independent spirit in politics 
as well as in religion, so that they had little favor 
from Queen Elizabeth. 

The accession of James I. to the throne brought no 
mitigation of the laws which prevented them from free 
assembly and discussion. James, with his devotion to 
high-church principles, would give them no liberty. 
It is said that in the year 1604 alone 300 ministers of 
the Puritans " were silenced, imprisoned, or exiled." 

The spirit that stirred within these men and women 
would not brook such oppression. They determined 
to leave their homes and their country to secure relig- 
ious freedom. In 1607, when some of them were 
about to depart, they were prevented by the author- 
ities and imprisoned. But the next year a ship-load 
of them sailed to Amsterdam under the guidance of 
John Robinson, minister, and William Brewster, rul- 
ing elder. The Puritans had become Pilgrims. 

Soon they removed to Leyden, where their temporal 
condition speedily improved and their numbers were 
increased by brethren of the same faith from home. 
They were not content with their foreign surround- 
ings in Holland, nor did they forget that they were 



I06 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Englishmen, Gradually they evolved the plan of 
emigrating to America, where they might live unhin- 
dered in the exercise of their religious beliefs and yet 
be under the protection of England. 

Representatives were sent to obtain from the Lon- 
don or the Plymouth Company permission to settle 
within their jurisdiction. But their various negotia- 
tions came to naught, and they received nothing more 
than an informal promise from King James that they 
should not be molested. 

With that they were forced to be content. Their 
minds were made up, and they determined to venture 
to the New World. To eke out their own small re- 
sources, a financial arrangement was made with Lon- 
don merchants by which the Puritans were to give 
their services and the others their money for a period 
of seven years, at the end of which time the profits 
were to be divided. 

They bought a vessel of sixty tons, named the 
Speedwell^ and as many of the Leyden church as could 
be accommodated sailed in her to Southampton, Eng- 
land. There they were joined by another vessel, 
which they had hired — the Mayflower, three times as 
large, carrying other Puritans. 

From Southampton they set sail in August, but 
twice were compelled to return because of the unsea- 
worthy condition of the smaller vessel. The Speed- 
well was therefore abandoned, and on September 6th 
I02 men, women, and children departed to their new 
home. 

The valley of the Hudson had been well chosen 
as their destination, but tempestuous weather drove 
them further north. On November 9, 1620, after a 
voyage of sixty-three days, they anchored within the 
shelter of Cape Cod. 

Having no authorization from the king or the com- 
pany in their enterprise, they deemed it necessary 



MA SSA CH USE T TS—PL YMO U TH COL ON V. 



107 



before landing to make a mutual agreement with each 
other for their government. They drew up a com- 
pact, therefore, which all the men, forty-two in num- 
ber, signed in the cabin of the Mayfloiver^ providing 
for their organization into a " civil body-politic " for 
securing "just and equal laws," unto v/hich they 
promised "all due submission and obedience." John 
Carver was at once elected governor of the colony by 
the votes of all. 

On lowering their boat to go ashore it was found 
useless without repairs. It took the carpenter more 
than a fortnight to complete his work, and during 




that time, though some of the men got ashore, they 
found nothing of value. When the boat was ready, 
Carver, with a dozen or fifteen followers, set out along 
the coast of the bay. Their undertaking was no light 
one. Their clothing was stiffened by frozen spray 
and they were attacked by Indians. Several days 
passed. A storm arose, breaking their rudder and 
forcing them to steer with oars. It broke their mast 
also, which fell overboard with the sail. Still they 
kept on for shelter. Darkness approached, and with 
difficulty they got into a harbor and spent the night 
on shore. 



Io8 HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. 

In the morning they found they were on an island. 
The day was spent in securing the rest which they 
needed and making repairs. The next day was the Sab- 
bath, and their religious opinions forbade aught but 
devotions. On Monday morning, however, they 
crossed to the shore and landed on Plymouth Rock. 
It was the nth of December, old style, that is, Decem- 
ber 2 ist according to our present reckoning. The May- 
flower was brought to the harbor, the Puritans dis- 
embarked, and the colony of Plymouth, organized on 
board the vessel, began its existence on land. 

Imagine the situation of these Pilgrims. A hun- 
dred people, not half of them able-bodied men, on a 
coast that in the middle of winter seemed inhospi- 
table enough, surrounded with savages, far from 
friends or assistance, the nearest Europeans on the 
coast being the French at Port Royal, a long way to 
the north, and the Jamestown colonists, 500 miles to 
the south. 

But they must do their best to maintain life. They 
investigated their surroundings, and choosing a site 
for their settlement named it Plymouth, after the last 
English port at which the Mayflower had touched. 
Trees were felled, and each man undertook to build a 
shelter for himself and his family. Wintry storms came 
upon them. Exposure generated consumption and 
other lung diseases. Slowly they reared their homes 
in the wilderness, but by the time winter broke their 
governor and half the colony had perished. 

Spring brought health and renewed energy to the 
sick and bereaved. But still they feared dangerfrom 
the Indians. Captain Miles Standish was sent with 
a small band to gather information on this point, 
but he had no conflict with the natives. Soon the 
apprehensions of the colonists were put at rest. 

In March an Indian named Samoset, who knew a 
few words of English which he had picked up from 



MA SSA CI/ USE TTS—PL YMO UTH COL ON V 



109 



the fishermen on the coast of Maine, appeared in 
Plymouth, extended his hand, and said, '' Welcome, 
Englishmen." Through an Indian who had been 
carried to England he made the colonists understand 
that he came from Massasoit, the sachem of the 
Wampanoags. His tribe wanted to secure the friend- 
ship of the English for trade and for help against their 
enemies the Narragansetts. They promised in return 
peace and opportunity for commercial intercourse. 
The settlers at once concluded a just compact, and the 
offensive and defensive alliance thus formed remained 
unbroken for half a century, proving of great assist- 
ance to the English in many ways. 

Other tribes followed the example of the Wam- 
panoags till nine chiefs had acknowledged the author- 
ity of King James. One reason for the submissive- 
ness of the savages was the small numbers to which 
they had been reduced by a pestilence a few years be- 
fore the arrival of the Pilgrims. But the Narragan- 
setts had escaped its ravages and were the enemies 
of the Wampanoags. Toward the English, therefore, 
they maintained a defiant attitude. Canonicus, their 
sachem, sent to the colony a bundle of arrows wrapped 
in a rattlesnake's skin — an Indian method of pro- 
claiming enmity. William Bradford, who was Car- 
ver's successor in the governorship, nothing daunted, 
returned the skin stuffed with powder and ball. This 
resolute reply cowed Canonicus into suing for peace. 

For a year or two the colonists had little success 
with their harvests and suffered severely at times for 
lack of sufficient food. A company of sixty men, sent 
over to make a settlement at Weymouth, on the south 
side of Boston harbor, remained at Plymouth for a 
while, and being scantily supplied themselves, added 
to the distress by consuming the provisions of the set- 
tlers. 
, When they attempted to make their intended set- 



no HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

tlement in 1622, they endeavored to supply their own 
want of thrift by defrauding the Indians in their 
neighborhood. The savages formed a plot for their 
destruction, but Massasoit, who was aware of their in- 
tentions, remembered his pledge to the English and 
gave warning to the Plymouth colonists. Miles Stand- 
ish, with a handful of men, was sent to assist his 
brethren, and with great gallantry he discomfited the 
Indians. But the Weymouth settlement was given 
up, some of the men going to Plymouth and others 
returning to England. 

In the spring of 1623 the lands of the colony were 
divided for purposes of cultivation, and from that 
summer on there was no scarcity of food. In the next 
year every one received in absolute ownership a little 
land. 

Trouble now arose with the London partners of the 
Pilgrims by whose financial aid they had been en- 
abled to organize their colony. Considerable money 
had been spent, from which there had been small re- 
turn. The colonists, too, were vexed by an attempt 
(which, however, they successfully resisted) to force on 
them a clergyman of the Church of England. Finally, 
eight leading men of the colony bought out the rights 
of the partners in London. 

But Plymouth did not retain an ascendency in New 
England as long as Jamestown did in Virginia. A 
new colony now arose which was destined to achieve 
the leadership in this part of the country, and hence- 
forth we shall hear little of the affairs of Plymouth. 



JfA SSA CHUSE TTS BAY COLON V. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY AND THE NEW ENGLAND 
UNION. 

Salem settled — A charter granted to Massachusetts Bay Colony — 
Boston founded — The right of suffrage — Roger Williams — His 
banishment — Representative government — Sir Henry Vane- 
Connecticut settled — Anne Hutchinson — Harvard University 
founded — The New England union — The "body of liber- 
ties " — Changes in the government — The civil war in Eng- 
Iand*-01iver Cromwell — Maine is settled — Annexed to Mas- 
sachusetts — Persecution of the Quakers — Unsuccessful attempt 
to make Massachusetts a royal province. 

In 1624 some Pilgrims from England settled on 
Cape Ann, but two years afterward removed to the 
present site of Salem. The founding of that town, 
however, as a permanent colony is dated from 1628, 
when another company arrived, with John Endicott 
as governor. 

In 1629 their grant from the Council of Plymouth 
was confirmed by a charter from Charles I. The 
proprietors were styled in this instrument "The Gov- 
ernor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New 
England." The governor, with various assistants to 
be elected annually, was to constitute the executive 
branch of the government, and these, with the free- 
men, or members of the corporation, meeting in 
"general court," were the legislative body, empow- 
ered to make all necessary laws so long as these were 
not inconsistent with English statutes, Thus Mas- 
sachusetts Bay colony was virtually an independent 
state in religious and political matters. 



112 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The new colony grew and prospered. New emi- 
grants arrived, some of whom settled at Charlestown. 
John Winthrop, a wise and prudent man, was chosen 
governor of the colon}-. Cambridge, Watertown, 
Roxbury, and Dorchester were settled. Boston, 
named after a town in England, was founded in 1630 
and soon became the center of the colony. Other 
settlements were made in this region and the colony 
was firmly established, though not without much 
suffering from exposure and disease, which had soon 
carried off 200 of the settlers. 

In 1631 the general court of the colony passed a 
law enacting that only church-members should ex- 
ercise the right of suffrage. Nearly three-fourths of 
the colony were thereby denied the right to vote or 
to hold office. Attendance at religious worship was 
made compulsory. Thus was taken one of the first 
steps which have brought the reproach on the Pil- 
grims of not allowing to others the same religious 
freedom for which they had themselves struggled. 
But we must remember the age in which they lived 
and their desire to preserve inviolate their Puritan 
beliefs. 

Soon they took a further step that cast a lasting 
stigma on the Massachusetts Bay colony. Roger 
Williams was the minister at Salem. He had called 
rebuke on himself for maintaining that the civil 
government had no authority in matters of con- 
science, and was obliged to withdraw to Plymouth. 
While there he wrote a paper declaring that the col- 
ony had no right to the lands it occupied until the 
Indians had been recompensed. Nevertheless he 
was recalled to Salem, where he still maintained his 
independent opinions and asserted that it was as ab- 
surd to choose civil rulers from church-members 
only as it would be to select a pilot or physician be- 
cause of his theological knowledge. 



MA SSA CH USE TTS BAY COL ON V. 113 

His opinions were considered subversive of the 
doctrines on which the colony chose to be governed. 
In 1635, therefore, the general court decreed his 
banishment, and leaving his home in the midst of 
the winter, January, 1636, he wandered for weeks in 
the wilderness. He finally made his way southward 
and there founded Providence, as we shall learn 
later on. 

His opinions, however, were not without fruit in 
the colony. The authorities considered that when 
the whole people could not be assembled they were 
not necessarily entitled to send representatives, but 
that the chief power lay with the governor and his 
assistants. The people thought otherwise, and on 
election day in May, 1634, notwithstanding a power- 
ful sermon by Cotton, they established a representa- 
tive government. Here for the first time the ballot- 
box took the place of the former method of election 
by a show of hands. Soon a law was passed pro- 
hibiting arbitrary taxation and maintaining the prin- 
ciple, for which all the colonies fought in the Revolu- 
tion, that only the representatives of the people could 
levy taxes. Had not the restriction on the right of 
suffrage still existed, the government of Massachu- 
setts would have been nearly as perfect as it is to- 
day. 

The colony now grew rapidly. Three thousand 
new settlers arrived the next year, and among them 
came Sir Henry Vane, a young English nobleman 
who entered so heartily into the interests of the col- 
ony that he was before long elected governor. 

The colonists, as they increased in numbers, were 
constantly pushing out to make new settlements. 
One company founded Concord in this way. An- 
other, composed of sixty persons, made a difficult 
journey to the Connecticut valley in the latter part 
of 1635, and there, as we shall learn when we come 



114 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

to the history of the Connecticut colony, laid the 
foundations of Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield. 

In Massachusetts Bay the religious troubles in- 
creased. The ministers exercised their influence and 
authority to prevent the spread of opinions differing 
from their own orthodox beliefs, but many of the peo- 
ple sided with the independent spirits who continued 
to advocate liberal principles such as Roger Williams 
had advanced. 

Among these was Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, a woman 
of ability and energy, who insisted on her right to 
speak at public meetings. The church-rulers main- 
tained that a woman's voice should not be heard on 
such occasions. But Mrs. Hutchinson argued her 
cause of freedom of speech and conscience for both 
sexes with such ability that the larger part of the in- 
habitants of Boston, and even Sir Henry Vane, the 
governor, sided with her. 

Vane's term of office came to an end, and in 1637 
the conservative party, which embraced the clergy, 
Winthrop, and others of like opmions, carried the 
elections. Soon Anne Hutchinson, together with 
Wheelright and Aspinwall, her chief supporters, were 
banished from the colony "as unfit for the society" 
of its inhabitants. Some of her adherents founded 
Exeter, in New Hampshire, and others proceeded to 
Rhode Island, where they lent their aid to Roger 
Williams in the foundation of a colony. 

While intolerance was thus making itself felt, an 
enterprise of a very different nature was undertaken — 
an institution was founded which to-day, nearly 250 
years after its origin, is known as the center of liberal 
and progressive thought. The Pilgrims were friends 
of education, and in 1636 the general court made an 
appropriation of money to establish a public school. 
Newtown, afterward called Cambridge from the 
English university town, was chosen as the site. 



MA SSA CHUSE TTS BAY COL ON Y. 



115 



Plymouth, Salem, and Connecticut aided in the en- 
terprise, and a bequest of money and a library was 
soon received on the death of John Harvard, a young 
minister. In his honor the institution, in 1638, was 
named Harvard College, and the oldest college in the 
United States has since then grown wonderfully and 
broadened into a splendid university. 

It is worthy of note, too, that at Cambridge, in 
1640, was printed the first book in the United States — 
a translation of the Psalms into English verse. 

There were by this time over 20,000 settlers scat- 
tered in fifty towns along the New England coast, 
notwithstanding the fact that Charles I. prevented 
many would-be emigrants from leaving England to 
add to the numbers of those in the New World whose 
independent opinions in politics and religion were so 
distasteful to him. The ship-building industry had 
been commenced and all the pursuits and trades of 
a nation were being introduced. The furs, lumber, 
grain, and fish which the forests, fields, and waters 
of New England produced brought wealth to the 
colonists. 

There were too many lives and interests at stake 
to warrant a neglect of means for defense. The 
French might at any time attack them on the north, 
the Dutch on the west, and the Indians everywhere. 
The English government was too occupied with the 
internal troubles which soon culminated in civil war 
to pay much attention to her colonies. 

Efforts were therefore made to unite the New Eng- 
land colonies by some common bond. Once and 
again these efforts were fruitless, but finally the end 
was achieved. The colonies of Massachusetts, Plym- 
outh, Connecticut, and New Haven in 1643 joined 
in a confederacy which was styled The United Colo- 
nies of New England. Matters of local interest were 
left for each colony to manage by itself, but affairs of 



Ii6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

general concern, such as war and peace, the raising of 
troops and revenues, and relations with the Indians, 
were placed in the hands of eight commissioners, two 
of whom were to be elected by each of the four colo- 
nies mentioned. 

Provision was made for the admission of other col- 
onies to this confederacy, but because of religious dif- 
ferences chiefly no others were ever admitted. The 
union lasted with more or less success for forty years. 

Massachusetts meanwhile was perfecting her own 
government. The people desired something more 
definite than they already possessed in the nature of a 
constitution or Magna Charta to define the rights and 
privileges of magistrates and people and provide laws 
for their guidance. The subject had been under dis- 
cussion for several years, but nothing came of it till 
1641, when a "body of liberties," prepared chiefly by 
Nathaniel Ward, was adopted. Governor, assistants, 
deputies, and judges were to be annually elected. 
The freedom of the commonwealth, of the towns, and 
of the people was established on a firm basis, and 
except for the harshness, as it seems to us to-day, of 
its provisions on religious subjects, no scant praise 
must be bestowed on this admirable document. 

Trouble still remained, however, between the assist- 
ants and the deputies — the upper and lower houses 
of the colonial assembly. Both had hitherto met and 
transacted their business in the same room, and the 
assistants claimed a right of veto on acts of the depu- 
ties, which was a power denied to the lower house 
on the resolutions of the other. A change was nbw 
made by which each body had its separate place of 
assembly and its own officers, each could originate 
laws, and each have a negative vote on the decisions 
of the other. The right of veto was not yet given to 
the governor; otherwise the government of Massa- 
chusetts was substantially the same as it now exii:ts. 



MA SSA CHUSE TTS BAY COL ON Y. 117 

While the Puritans in Massachusetts were perfect- 
ing their government, their brethren in England were 
struggling against the tyranny of Charles I. and civil 
war had been commenced. The triumph of the Par- 
liamentary cause was the triumph of those who did 
not acknowledge the supreme authority of the Church 
of England. Parliament did not, indeed, oppress the 
New Englanders, whose sympathy they had, as it did 
the Virginians, who were tainted with royalism. Sev- 
eral measures, however, were adopted which would 
have acted to the disadvantage of Massachusetts if 
Sir Henry Vane, who had returned to England, and 
able commissioners sent from the colony had not 
averted the danger by their influence and prudence. 

After the execution of the king Massachusetts was 
asked to surrender her charter and receive a new one, 
which would have brought her much more under the 
sway of Parliament. The colony, however, did not 
see fit to yield its independence even to this extent, 
and the change was never made. Oliver Cromwell, 
who now held almost royal authority under the title 
of Lord Protector of the Commonwealth, did not 
enforce the request. He allowed the New England 
colonies, while he lived, the utmost freedom. 

The first settlement within the present state of 
Maine was probably made in 1626, near Monhegan, at 
the mouth of the Pemaquid. Sir Ferdinand Gorges, 
in 1639, obtained the region between the Piscataqua 
and Kennebec rivers under a royal charter. A grant 
of territory around Casco Bay had previously been 
made to another corporation by the Plymouth Coun- 
cil, and disputes arose which gave the settlers little 
rest. Their complaints were, therefore, laid before 
the general court at Boston, and this body decreed, in 
1652, that the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, by a 
strict interpretation of her charter, extended three 
miles beyond the northernmost part of the Merrimac 



Ii8 HISTORY Op- THE UNITED STATES. 

River and '' east and west to each sea." The province 
of Maine was therefore annexed to Massachusetts. 

We come now to another blot on the fair page of 
Massachusetts' history. The colony had persecuted 
and banished Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson. 
Now it proceeded to a greater length with the Quakers. 
The first of this sect arrived in Boston in 1656. The 
Quakers of this time in New England were far more 
aggressive than those of to-day. They urged their 
doctrines with vehemence and persistence, and courted 
the danger of persecution and the death of martyr- 
dom. Their belief in the Inner Light, the voice of 
God in the soul, as the only guide in religion, and 
their belief in the utmost individual liberty of con- 
science, were not at all compatible with the tenets of 
Massachusetts orthodoxy. The authorities considered 
that all dangers would flow from the unsettlement of 
the people's faith: to ward off these dangers the most 
extreme measures would be justified. 

The first Quakers, therefore, who arrived, two 
women, were thrown into prison, their books burned, 
and other indignities heaped upon them. They were 
soon banished from the colony, and several others 
were sent back to England. 

Cruel punishments were prescribed against the 
Quakers — whipping, cutting off of ears, and boring 
the tongue with a red-hot iron. One woman, who had 
come from England expressly to warn the magistrates 
against this cruel treatment, received twenty stripes 
for her reward. Yet the Quakers continued to come, 
seeming to delight in martyrdom. 

The commissioners of the united colonies deemed 
the matter of sufficient importance to recommend, in 
1658, that Massachusetts prescribe the punishment of 
death for such as would not leave the colony. The 
younger Winthrop, from Connecticut, was the only 
man of these commissioners who was humane enough 



MA SSA CH USE TTS BAY COL ON V. 



119 



to oppose this recommendation. The general court 
of the colony, though, we are glad to say, by a ma- 
jority of only a single vote decided to follow the ad- 
vice. 

In September, 1659, four persons, the most turbu- 
lent of the Quakers, were ordered to leave the colony. 
One obeyed. Another, Mary Dyar, also departed, but 
afterward returned. She, together with Marmaduke 
Stephenson and William Robinson, who had scorned 
the threatened danger, were condemned to death. 
They were led forth for execution and the men were 
hanged. At the last moment Mary Dyar was re- 
prieved and sent out of the colony, but she soon came 
back and was hanged on the common of Boston. 

William Ledra was also soon executed. Another 
Quaker was tried and condemned. The prisons con- 
tained many of his friends who were willing to suffer 
martyrdom. But at last the people became sick of 
this cruelty. The authorities saw their error. The 
prisoners, twenty-eight in number, were released, and 
the persecution of the Quakers ceased. 

In 1660, as we had cause to note in the history of 
Virginia, monarchy was restored to England in the 
person of Charles II. The judges who had con- 
demned his father to death were obliged to fly for 
their lives. Two of them came to Boston, where they 
were well received by the governor and the people 
and concealed from the British officers for some time. 
They afterward went to New Haven, and finally 
found a refuge in Hadley, where they ended their 
lives in peace. 

Severe restrictions were soon put on the commerce 
and manufactures of Massachusetts for the benefit of 
the English king and the English merchants. 

War now broke out between England and Holland, 
and Charles sent a fleet in 1664 to obtain possession 
of the Dutch settlements on the Hudson. He also 



I20 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

had in view the intimidation of the English colonics, 
which he wished to bring under his immediate con- 
trol. The charter of Massachusetts stood in his way 
and this could not be conveniently revoked. He 
therefore began his operations by sending with his 
fleet four commissioners to act as judges and to gen- 
erally supervise affairs in New England. 

The people knew very well what this action meant. 
They knew also that it was a violation of their char- 
ter. Massachusetts gave her patent to a trustworthy 
committee for safe-keeping and refused to acknowl- 
edge the authority of the judges. Rhode Island alone 
yielded complete obedience. Connecticut was cold, 
while Maine and New Hampshire were by no means 
submissive. The judges were disgusted and Charles 
n. recalled them in 1665. Massachusetts, by her firm 
and independent spirit, had achieved a great victory 
and preserved her liberty. 



MA SSA CHUSE TTS—KING PHILIP'S WAR, 1 2 : 



CHAPTER XIV. 

MASSACHUSETTS KING PHILIP'S WAR AND ANDROS. 

War breaks out with the Indians — Its progress — Deerfield, Had- 
ley, and Springfield — The Narragansetts are cut to pieces — 
King Philip is shot — Purchase of the proprietary claims to 
Maine — New Hampshire made a separate province — Massa- 
chusetts becomes a royal province — Sir Edmund Andros — The 
tyrant is overthrown. 

A cloud now loomed up on the horizon. Trouble 
threatened with the Indians. The faithful friend of 
the English, Massasoit, died in 1662, and was suc- 
ceeded in the chieftainship of the Wampanoags first 
by his elder son and within a year by his younger 
son, who is known as King Philip. 

The younger generation of warriors regretted the 
hunting-grounds which their fathers had sold to the 
pale-face. The Wampanoags now retained of all 
their former wide possessions only a small territory 
in the eastern part of Rhode Island. Moreover, some 
of the Indians had been arrested and imprisoned by 
the English. An Indian was killed: in revenge an 
Englishman was murdered. 

The Indians were now thoroughly aroused. Philip, 
perhaps, desired to avoid a conflict, but finding him- 
self unable to restrain his tribe, led them on. All 
the Indians in New England at this time did not 
number more than 25,000, while the colonists were 
twice as numerous. Notwithstanding this the sav- 
ages determined to fight. 

Philip put the women and children of his tribe 



122 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

under the care of Canonchet, chief of the Narragan- 
setts, and war was commenced by an attack on the 
town of Swanzey, not far from Fall River, on June 
24, 1675. Eight Englishmen were massacred. 

The treaty made with Massasoit more than fifty 
years before was thus broken. Companies from 
Plymouth and Boston marched agciinst Philip and 
forced him to fly to a swamp, where he defended him- 
self for a fortnight. At last, to escape starvation he 
was obliged to steal away. Coming to the Nipmuck 
Indians in central Massachusetts, he inflamed this 
and other tribes. The war became general, and for 
months the outlying settlements were subject to sur- 
prise and massacre. 

When Philip escaped from the besieging force of 
colonists, these marched against Canonchet, whom 
they forced to yield up the women and children of 
the Wampanoags and to agree that the Narragan- 
setts should remain peaceful. 

The English hoped to prevail on the Nipmucks to 
maintain peace. To meet them in a conference a 
company of twenty men were sent to Brookfield. 
But the Indians had already espoused Philip's cause. 
They laid an ambush for the English and massacred 
nearly all of them. A few survivors fled to the set- 
tlement, and the inhabitants had barely time to reach 
the block-house before the savages were upon them. 

The place was fiercely besieged for several days, 
and at one time, when its destruction by fire seemed 
certain, a shower of rain alone preserved it. Then 
re-enforcements arrived and the Indians were put to 
flight. 

In August the English routed the Indians at Deer- 
field, but shortly after the enemy succeeded in burn- 
ing the larger part of the town. A store-house, how- 
ever, was saved, and eighty men undertook to trans- 
fer its contents to Hadley. On the i8th of Septem- 



MA SSA CHUSE TTS—KING PHILIP' S WAR. 123 

ber they set out, but had not gone far when 800 In- 
dians attacked them at a ford, thereafter known as 
Bloody Brook, and hardly a man was left alive. But 
seventy more English had meanwhile arrived, who 
fought on while retreating till they were re-enforced 
by 160 English and Mohegan Indians. This in- 
creased force succeeded in inflicting a severe defeat 
on the Indians. 

Hadley had been attacked on the same day as 
Deerfield while the people were at church. They 
were surprised, and were only saved from total de- 
feat by the directing influence of General Goffe, one 
of the judges who had condemned Charles I. to 
death and was in hiding in the town. After the In- 
dians were driven back he retired to his concealment, 
which few of the townspeople had suspected, and they 
never saw him again. 

Springfield and Hadley once more were attacked 
and a large part of each destroyed by fire. At Hat- 
field, however, the Indians were severely defeated. 

The people now sought safety in the stronger 
towns, and maintained a bold front against the en- 
emy. Philip, therefore, marched to the country of 
the Narragansetts who received him and thereby 
broke their agreement with the English. Against 
this nation Massachusetts declared war, and 1,000 
men were sent under Colonel Winslow against the 
allies. 

The Indians, 3,000 in number, sought refuge in a 
large swamp near the village of Kingston, in the 
southwestern part of Rhode Island. They built a 
fort, with capital defenses, and there awaited the at- 
tack. The colonists arrived on December 19th and 
immediately began the assault. With great bravery 
they succeeded in forcing their way into the fort. 
They set on Are the wigwams within the inclosure, 
and a fierce conflict ensued, which ended in a com- 



124 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

plete victory for the whites. A thousand of the war- 
riors met their death, and many more were capt- 
ured. The wounded and the weak, men, women, and 
children, were devoured by the flames. The Narra- 
gansett nation was thus nearly destroyed in a single 
day, but at an expense to the English of 80 killed and 
150 wounded. 

Some of the Indians escaped with Philip and went 
once more to the Nipmucks. The spring of 1676 saw 
the war renewed with increased fury from Maine to 
Long Island Sound. Lancaster, Marlborough, and 
even Weymouth, not twenty miles from Boston, were 
burnt to the ground. 

But the Indians were growing weaker as the war 
continued. Canonchet was captured. He refused 
the offer of his life if he would procure peace, and 
bravely met his death. The wife and son of Philip 
also fell into the hands of the English, and the latter 
was sold as a slave in Bermuda. Philip's spirit was 
broken by these losses and other disasters. He sought 
his old home of Mount Hope, on the eastern shore of 
Narragansett Bay. In August an Indian guided a 
company of English to the spot and himself fired the 
shot that killed his chief. Treachery had accom- 
plished what English bravery and power had hitherto 
been unable to achieve, and King Philip's War was 
over. 

The Indians had been well-nigh exterminated in 
New England. The tribes beyond the Connecticut 
begged for peace. But the war had also been very 
disastrous to the English. It had cost $500,000 in 
expenses and losses. Thirteen towns and 600 houses 
had been destroyed. Six hundred soldiers had met 
their death while fighting the enemy, and many men, 
women, and children had been murdered in cold 
blood. 

Charles II. did nothing to help the colonists in re- 



MASSACHUSETTS— KING PHILIP'S WAP. 125 

covering from the effects of King Philip's War. On 
the contrary, he sent a commissioner to collect duties 
and interfere in other ways with what the people 
considered their liberties. He was received with firm 
remonstrances, and in a few weeks returned with a 
report that gave another excuse to the king for his 
scheme of bringing the New England colonies under 
his immediate sway. 

Massachusetts was also involved in a dispute with 
the heirs of Gorges, the original proprietor of 
Maine, who had not yielded their claims to that prov- 
ince. They finally obtained a judgment in England 
in their favor, and to settle all questions Massachu- 
setts purchased their rights in 1677 for ;£"i,25o. 

New Hampshire, as we shall see when we come to 
the history of that colony, had been under the juris- 
diction of Massachusetts since 1641. Thirty-eight 
years later, by a course of proceedings similar to 
those in the case of Maine, Massachusetts was de- 
clared to have no right to the province of New Hamp- 
shire, and a royal government was established therein. 

But the people did not yield obedience to the royal 
governor, and Charles considered that the influence of 
Massachusetts was largely to blame for their insub- 
ordination. He had long desired to secure control of 
that independent colony, and now ordered his judges 
to conduct an investigation with a view to declaring 
the charter of Massachusetts forfeited. They decided 
in 1684 that it was so, and the king was about to 
exercise his authority when he died. 

James H. came to the throne in 1685, He carried 
out the designs of his brother Charles and consoli- 
dated the colonies from Narragansett to Nova Scotia, 
appointing Joseph Dudley royal governor. The peo- 
ple of New England were not prepared to resist. 
The union of the colonies had finally died in 1684, 
after languishing for many years. The general court 



126 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

of Massachusetts dissolved and the members returned 
to their homes, whence they saw with sorrow their 
liberties trampled under foot. Popular representa- 
tion was abolished and the press was subjected to 
censorship. 

Sir Edmund Andros landed in Boston in December, 
1686, succeeding Dudley as governor of all New Eng- 
land. He proceeded at once to bring the colonies 
into subjection. New Hampshire succumbed. Rhode 
Island suffered the same fate. Connecticut was forced 
to submit. Andros was master of the country. 

But a crisis was brewing in England that was to 
help the colonists. In 1688 occurred what is known 
as the English Revolution. James II. was deposed, 
and the nation received William the Silent and Mary 
as their sovereigns. The inhabitants of Charlestown 
and Boston now rose in arms. Andros was seized 
and thrown into prison, and afterward sent back to 
England, and on the 22d of May, 1689, the general court 
of Massachusetts once more assembled. The other 
colonies followed her example and re-established their 
own governments. New England was once more 
master of itself. 



MA SSA CHU SETTS— WARS AND WITCHCRAFT. 1 2 7 



CHAPTER XV. 

MASSACHUSETTS — WARS AND WITCHCRAFT. 

King William's War — The massacre at Schenectady — The naval ex- 
pedition against Quebec — The land-forces fail to reach Can- 
ada — Haverhill is attacked — The treaty of Rysvvick — Massa- 
chusetts finally becomes a royal province — The Salem witch- 
craft — Spread of the delusion — Its cessation — Queen Anne's 
War — Deerfield — Nova Scotia captured — Expedition against 
Quebec — The treaty of Utrecht — Internal troubles — King 
George's War — Louisburg captured— The treaty of Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle. 

The English colonies now became involved in the 
first of the intercolonial wars. When James II. left 
the kingdom in 1688 he went to France, where the 
king, Lotiis XIV., supported him in the vain attempt 
to recover his lost throne. War was declared be- 
tween England and France in 1689, and the colonies 
of these nations in America were naturally drawn into 
the conflict, which is known in American history as 
King William's War. 

In June the first blood was shed. The northern In- 
dians, in alliance with the French, attacked Dover, 
New Hampshire, where they massacred more than a 
score of the inhabitants and took away others as 
captives. In August, Pemaquid, now Bremen, Maine, 
was surprised. The fort was besieged and finally 
captured, with a large loss to the English. 

The colonies now made an alliance with the Mo- 
hawks, a powerful tribe to the west of the Hudson. 
The Dutch settlements in New Netherlands were by 
this time under English rule and of course took part 



128 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

against the French. To the valley of the Mohawk 
River a party of French and Indians came in Febru- 
ary, 1690. The town of Schenectady was surprised 
and a frightful massacre took place. All but sixty 
persons fell victim to the tomahawk and scalping- 
knife. 

The destruction of Salmon Falls, on the Piscataqua 
and Casco, Maine, added to the losses already suffered 
by the English. 

It was necessary that the colonies should take some 
united action for their safety. A colonial congress 
was therefore assembled at New York. A plan was 
formed for attacking Canada. A land-force was to 
march against Montreal by way of Lake Champlain, 
while Massachusetts was to send a fleet to capture 
Quebec. 

Sir William Phipps, in accordance with this plan, was 
sent, in 1690, with thirty-four ships to the St. Lawrence. 
He stopped first at Port Royal, which capitulated, and 
the rest of Nova Scotia yielded to the English. Delays 
occurred. The Indians gave warning to the French, 
and by the time the English were ready to attack it, 
Quebec was so strongly fortified that an assault would 
have been useless. The fleet had nothing left but to 
return to Boston, and Massachusetts, to pay the ex- 
penses of this expedition, issued bills of credit. These 
were made legal tender for the payment of debts, and 
paper money was thus used for the first time in the 
history of our country. 

The joint forces which were intended for an attack 
on Montreal got as far as Lake Champlain. Here dis- 
putes so violent arose between the leaders from New 
York and Connecticut that the expedition had to be 
given up. So in both quarters, by land and by sea, 
the English had failed of the conquest of Canada. 

Hostilities continued. The Indian allies of the 
French committed various depredations. An attack 



MASSACHUSETTS— WARS AND WITCHCRAFT, 129 

was made on Haverhill, Massachusetts, in March, 1697, 
and about forty persons were killed or captured. One 
incident attending this massacre is worth recording 
as showing the cruelty of the Indians and the perils 
which the settlers had to undergo. 

Mrs. Hannah Dustin was left with her nurse and an 
infant but a week old. By this means alone could her 
husband have saved the rest of his family. The In- 
dians seized the child and dashed its brains out against 
a tree before the eyes of its horror-stricken mother. 
Then Mrs. Dustin, weak though she was, and one or 
two companions, were marched away captives. But 
her spirit was strong. In the dead of night she and 
her companions arose, seized the tomahawks of the 
Indians — about a dozen in number — and while they 
slept killed ten of them. Escaping in a canoe, she 
managed to reach the settlements, where she narrated 
her horrible story. 

The war was now practically over. A treaty of 
peace between England and France was signed at 
Ryswick, Holland, and confirmed in September, 1697. 
By the terms of this treaty King William was acknowl- 
edged sovereign of England and the boundary of the 
colonies remained as before the war. 

During the progress of the war Sir William Phipps 
had been sent to England from Massachusetts to ob- 
tain help for the colony in the conflict and a renew- 
al of its old charter. But the government could not 
spare men or ships which were needed nearer home. 
King William preferred to rule the colonies himself. 
In the early part of 1692 Phipps returned to Boston 
as royal governor of a consolidated province. New 
Hampshire was kept separate from Massachusetts, 
but Plymouth, Maine, and Nova- Scotia were united 
to it, and from this time till the Revolution Massa- 
chusetts remained a royal province. Plymouth lost 
for good its identity as a separate colony, and Maine 



I30 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

remained under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts till 
it was separated to become a state in 1820. 

The same year in which Massachusetts became a 
royal colony occurred also the frightful delusion 
known as the Salem witchcraft. The laws of Eng- 
land, with which those of Massachusetts agreed, pre- 
scribed the punishment of death for witches. In 
1648 a woman had been executed in Boston under 
this law. But no others had suffered death thus far. 

Now the trouble commenced in Salem. In the 
early part of 1692 several persons were seized with 
strange convulsions and spasms, which were attrib- 
uted to the malignant influence of some witch. An 
Indian servant was whipped till she confessed. 

The colony was now all excitement. Samuel 
Parris, minister at Salem, the Rev. Cotton Mather, a 
learned divine, Governor Phipps, and other leading 
men encouraged the belief in witchcraft and the de- 
sire for the death-penalty. A special court was or- 
ganized to try cases of this kind. 

A madness seemed to have seized the minds of the 
people. Accusations were made against the most 
reputable and innocent persons. The trials were a 
farce and condemnation often a foregone conclusion. 
A clergyman, George Burroughs, was hanged. Giles 
Corey scouted the notion of witchcraft and was ar- 
rested. Perceiving the uselessness of argument, he 
refused to plead and was pressed to death. 

From June to September the tribunal was active. 
Twenty persons had been put to death — one a 
clergyman and thirteen women. A hundred and fifty 
prisoners filled the jails. Many had been tortured 
into false confessions of witchcraft. Scores were ac- 
cused. The delusion had reached its height. 

But once again, as in the case of the Quakers, the 
better spirit of the colonists revived at last. A re- 
action followed and the foolish and bloody work was 



MASSACHUSETTS— WARS AND WITCHCRAFT. 131 

Stopped. The assembly met in October, and the 
special court to try cases of witchcraft was done 
away with. The prisoners were discharged and no 
other executions took place, though the next year a 
few persons were accused and condemned. 

Many of those who had taken part in these pro- 
ceedings afterward admitted their error. But Cot- 
ton Mather remained as firm as ever in his belief. 
He published an account of the Salem witchcraft, en- 
titled "Wonders of the Invisible World," and men 
high in authority still agreed with him. But they 
no longer could delude the popular mind when it 
had once recovered its sanity. The delusion had 
ceased, though it left a horrible stain on the glorious 
name of Massachusetts. 

After King William's War the colonists were not 
long left in peace. In 1700 the King of Spain died, 
leaving his throne to Philip of Anjou, grandson of 
Louis XIV. of France. To prevent the threatened 
union of the crowns of Spain and France, an alliance 
was formed between England, Austria, and Holland 
to secure the Spanish throne for the Archduke Charles 
of Austria. 

England was also wroth with France for having, in 
spite of the treaty of Ryswick, recognized as king of 
England the son of James II., who died an exile in 
1701. King William commenced war against his 
neighbor across the channel, but died the next year. 
Parliament had provided for the English succession 
in the person of Anne, daughter of James II. and sis- 
ter-in-law of William. She continued the struggle, 
which is known in European history as the War of the 
Spanish Succession but in our own country as Queen 
Anne's War. 

New England and South Carolina were the chief 
sufferers of the colonies from this war. The Five 
Nations agreed to preserve neutrality in the struggle 



132 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



and stood between the colonists of New York and the 
French to the north. The Indians of Maine made a 
similar treaty, but afterward violated it and treacher- 
ously fell on the unsuspecting settlers, and a fearful 
and wide-spread massacre followed. 

In 1704 Deerfield, Massachusetts, which had suf- 
fered in King Philip's War, was the scene of another 
massacre. Forty-seven persons were killed and over 
100 were marched captive to Canada. Such as could 
not struggle longer through the deep snow were 
tomahawked before the eyes of their friends and rela- 
tives. The survivors were finally ransomed and re- 
turned to Massachusetts. But one of the daughters 
of the minister, Mr. Williams, remained with the In- 
dians, and growing up, married a warrior. She after- 
ward returned to Deerfield but could not be persuaded 
to stay there. 

It was now determined to carry the war into Can- 
ada. In 1707, therefore, Massachusetts sent a fleet 
against Port Royal, but did not succeed in capturing 
the town. In 17 10 another expedition resulted suc- 
cessfully, and all of Nova Scotia fell into the hands of 
the English. Port Royal was renamed Annapolis, in 
honor of the queen. 

The next year a land-force was sent against Montreal 
and a naval expedition against Quebec. The fleet 
was under the command of Sir Hovenden Walker. 

The admiral delayed to sail for an unreasonable 
period. Again, at Gaspe Bay, he lingered for a while. 
When he finally started up the St. Lawrence a storm 
arose and wrecked eight vessels. Nearly 900 m.en 
were lost. Quebec, meanwhile, notified of the En- 
glish plans by the Indians, had strengthened her 
defenses. The English concluded that it was useless 
to proceed, and they sailed away with nothing accom- 
plished. The land-force, learning that the fleet would 
not co-operate with them, was obliged to return. 



MASSACHUSETTS— WARS AND WITCHCRAFT. 133 

Operations, meanwhile, were being carried on in the 
south between the Spaniards in Florida and the in- 
habitants of South Carolina, which we shall speak of 
when we come to the history of that colony. 

The Indian depredations along the frontier had 
been continued, but the war now came to a close. By 
a treaty made at Utrecht, in Holland, in 17 13, Eng- 
land obtained in America Hudson Bay, Labrador, 
Nova Scotia (Acadia), and the control of the New- 
foundland fisheries. The hostile Indians also made a 
treaty of peace with the New England colonies. 

The period between this war and the next was 
chiefly occupied in Massachusetts with struggles 
against the power of the royal government. The 
governors were not in sympathy with the people, and 
the colonists objected to the large salaries which the 
royal commissioners allowed to the governor and his 
council. The colonists finally gained the day, and it 
was settled that the popular assembly should hence- 
forth determine the salaries annually. 

In the meantime Anne had died. George I. suc- 
ceeded her, and was in turn followed by George II. 
A dispute, in which most of the European nations 
took part, arose about the succession to the throne of 
Austria. England came into conflict with Spain, and 
in 1744 declared war also against France. This war 
of the Austrian succession is known in American his- 
tory as King George's War. 

The colonies were of course drawn into the strug- 
gle. Massachusetts, with her usual enterprise and 
patriotism, sought a good point of attack on the 
dominions of the French. The importance of the 
strongly fortified town of Louisburg, on Cape Breton 
Island, as a defense to Canada and a constant menace 
to the English possessions, was quickly noted. Its 
capture was therefore determined. 

New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New 



134 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

York, and Pennsylvania assisted Massachusetts. A 
force of over 4,000 men, under the command of Will- 
iam Pepperell, of Maine, was dispatched in a fleet 
from Boston in the month of April, 1745. Under 
orders from England Commodore Warren came with 
a fleet from the West Indies and joined the expedi- 
tion, and the 100 vessels advanced. 

The English effected a landing and captured a 
French battery near the town. Guns were planted 
on the opposite side of the harbor, and others 
were dragged with great labor through a swamp 
back of the town till they were placed on solid 
ground at short range from the walls. But the fort 
was so strong that it suffered little damage. 

The capture of an armed provision-ship by the 
English carried dismay to the French. They were 
successful, however, in repulsing, with a loss of 176 
men, a daring night attack which was made on their 
island battery in the harbor. 

The English now decided to attempt the capture 
of the fortress by storm. But before they could 
carry out their plan, on June 17th, the French showed 
a flag of truce. After a siege of seven weeks Louis- 
burg capitulated, and Cape Breton Island came into 
possession of the English. 

The colonists rejoiced. France was thunderstruck 
and made two efforts to retrieve her fortunes in this 
quarter. In 1746 a fleet was sent out under the 
Duke d'Anville. The commander died, his successor 
committed suicide, and shipwreck broke up the fleet. 
Another expedition sent the next year was defeated 
by an English squadron. 

So England held Louisburg during the war. But 
when the conflict was ended by the treaty of Aix-la- 
Chapelle in 1748, the island of Cape Breton was given 
back to France. None of the disputed boundaries 
were settled and nothing remained of the advantage 



MASSACHUSETTS— WARS AND WITCHCRAFT. 135 

which the lives and labors of the colonists had done 
so much to obtain. 

Here we close the separate history of Massachu- 
setts. The French and Indian War, which soon burst 
upon the colonies, brought them closer together than 
ever before. And soon after were heard the mutter- 
ingsof the mighty Revolution, when we shall find Mas- 
sachusetts taking the firm stand for liberty and ex- 
hibiting the self-sacrificing patriotism which we 
might expect from the descendants of the Puritans. 



136 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

NEW YORK UNDER THE DUTCH. 

Manhattan Island settled — Peter Minuit — The patroons — Attempt 
to settle in Delaware — Wouter van Twiller — The Dutch and 
the Pilgrims 01 the Connecticut — New Sweden settled— William 
Kieft — Trouble with the Swedes — Indian war — Kieft's treach- 
ery — Peter Stuyvesant — The Connecticut boundary — The 
Swedes are overcome — Difficulties with the Indians — The 
Duke of York obtains a patent — The English gain possession 
of New Amsterdam. 

We have already narrated how Henry Hudson, in 
the employ of the Duch East India Company, dis- 
covered in 1609 the river that bears his name, and 
how the earliest settlement was made on Manhattan 
Island in 1614. 

A new company, called the Dutch West India Com- 
pany, was organized in 162 1, and the States General 
of Holland granted to this corporation the right to 
plant colonies and maintain almost unlimited control 
over them for a period of twenty-four years. Any 
part of the Atlantic coast of North or South America 
was placed at their disposal. 

It was under the control of this company that 
Manhattan Island was permanently settled. Thirty 
families of Walloons, or Dutch Protestants, arrived 
in 1623, under the leadership of Cornelius May, and 
settled at New Amsterdam, which afterward became 
New York, the metropolis of the country. In the 
same year Fort Orange was built on the present site 
of Albany, to take the place of Fort Nassau, near by, 
which had been carried away by a flood. 



NEW YORK UNDER THE DUTCH. 137 

The first governor appointed by the Dutch West 
India Company was Peter Minuit, who arrived in 1626. 
The colony wished to treat the Indians fairly and this 
same year bought from them Manhattan Island, an 
area of 14,000 acres, for sixty guilders, or about twenty- 
four dollars. A fort was built at the lower end of the 
island, and settlements were also made on the Long 
Island shore at Brooklyn and Wallabout. 

In 1629 the governing company planned a new 
method of colonization. They agreed to give certain 
limited portions of land to proprietors, called patroons, 
who would purchase their estates from the Indians 
and settle them. 

Several persons at once accepted the offer. Samuel 
Godyn was one of these, and he chose part of the 
present state of Delaware for his domain. In 1631 a 
small colony was planted on Lewes Creek, near Cape 
Henlopen and De Vries, who had directed the settlers, 
went back to Holland. 

In the latter part of the next year he returned, only 
to find the colony extinct. An Indian chief had been 
put to death, and in revenge the savages had com- 
pletely destroyed the settlement. But it was to this 
short-lived colony that Delaware owes its separate 
existence as a state, for according to the English rule 
colonization was necessary to establish dominion over 
the wilderness. 

Minuit w^as succeeded in 1633 by Wouter van Twiller 
as governor of New Netherlands. Trouble soon arose 
over the possession of the CoiTnecticut valley, which 
in its lower part was claimed by both the English and 
the Dutch. Land had been purchased from the In- 
dians and a Dutch block-house built in 1633 on the 
present site of Hartford. In the latter part of the 
year a vessel from Plymouth sailed up the stream, 
disregarded the protests of the Dutch, and built Fort 
Windsor above Hartford. In 1635 Saybrook was 



138 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

founded by the English on the lower part of the Con- 
necticut, and the Dutch finally withdrew from their 
advanced post. 

And now another nation was to come into conflict 
with New Netherlands. Peter Mmuit had entered the 
employ of Sweden, and in 1637 started with a com- 
pany of Swedes and Finns to the New World. They 
purchased from the Indians the western shore of Del- 
aware Bay and of the Delaware River as far north as 
Trenton Falls, calling the territory New Sweden. The 
colonists arrived in 1638 and made the first permanent 
settlement in the state of Delaware. The spot chosen 
for the fort, near the head of the bay, was named 
Christiana, in honor of the child-queen of Sweden. 
It is within the present limits of the city of Wilming- 
ton. 

Prosperity visited the Swedish colony, which aroused 
the envy of New Netherlands. William Kieft had suc- 
ceeded Van Twiller in 1638 as governor of the Dutch. 
He sent a protest to the Swedes against their occupa- 
tion of what he claimed to be Dutch territory. They 
paid no attention to this remonstrance. Kieft, there- 
fore, sent a company to rebuild the Dutch fort Nas- 
sau which had once existed for a short time on the 
Delaware River a few miles below Camden. To pro- 
tect themselves the Swedes built a strong fort in 1643 
on the island of Tinicum, a few miles south of Phila- 
delphia, and this was the earliest settlement within 
the territory of Pennsylvania. Then, for a time, the 
dispute rested. * 

Meanwhile the Dutch had become involved in a dis- 
astrous Indian war. Disputes between fraudulent 
traders and drunken savages had aroused a bitter 
feeling. The Indians of Jersey crossed to Staten 
Island and massacred the inhabitants. 

New Amsterdam sent soldiers against the natives, 
but they accomplished nothing. A bounty was offered 



ATBIV YORK UNDER THE DUTCH. 139 

for every Indian of the Raritans who should be capt- 
ured. A short truce was broken by the son of a 
chieftain who killed a white man. Kieft demanded 
the murderer. The Indians offered to pay a heavy 
fine of wampum, but would not give up the warrior. 

Now a party of the Mohawks came down the river, 
claiming the obedience of the southern tribes. The 
Algonquins begged the Dutch to protect them. They 
met with treachery instead of help. Kieft sent a band 
of men who crossed the Hudson and stole upon the 
natives in the night. Nearly 100 Indians were mas- 
sacred. 

When the natives discovered that it was the Dutch 
and not the hostile Indians who had committed this 
atrocity, they rose in arms from Jersey to Connecticut. 
Frightful massacre ensued among the scattered farms. 
Among those who perished was Anne Hutchinson, 
whom we have heard of in the history of Massachu- 
setts. After her exile from that colony she had gone 
to Rhode Island and thence to New Netherlands. 

A severe blow must be given the Indians. One 
hundred and twenty men, in 1643, were placed under 
the command of John Underhill, a refugee from New 
England. He gained victories over the Indians till 
they desired peace. A treaty was made in 1645 and 
the war was ended. 

Kieft had made himself thoroughly obnoxious to 
the colonists by this time. The trouble with the In- 
dians was largely due to his cruelty and vindictive- 
ness. The people petitioned that he be removed, and 
the Dutch West India Company, in 1647, appointed 
Peter Stuyvesant to succeed him. Kieft met his 
death by the wreck of the vessel in which he sailed 
for Europe. 

Peter Stuyvesant was a man of the strongest will, 
stubborn and arbitrary enough at times, but thor- 
oughly honest and in the main wise withal. He im- 



I40 HISTOR V OF THE UNITED STA TES. 

mediately set about conciliating the Indians, and 
acted so prudently and kindly toward them that* the 
most intimate and friendly relations were speedily 
established between the natives and the Dutch. 

The monopoly of the Dutch West India Company 
was abolished about this time, and the trade and com- 
merce of the colony prospered greatly by the change. 

Fears were still entertained that the eastern col- 
onies would encroach on the Dutch domain. Em- 
bassadors from the New England colonies, there- 
fore, met Governor Stuyvesant at Hartford in 1650 
and a boundary-line was settled. It passed north 
and south through Long Island in the neighbor- 
hood of Oyster Bay on the northern shore, and on 
the main -land corresponded very nearly with the 
present v^^estern boundary of Connecticut. The col- 
onies, the West India Company, and the government 
of Holland agreed to this treaty, but England re- 
fused to consider it favorabl}''. 

Stuyvesant next gave his attention to the Swedes, 
who, he considered, had invaded Dutch territory. 
An expedition sailed in 165 1 to Delaware Bay and 
built Fort Casimir on the spot where New Castle 
now stands. Governor Rising, of the Swedish col- 
ony, captured the fort by stratagem in 1654. 

The West India Company, in consequence of this 
act, ordered Stuyvesant to conquer or drive out the 
Swedes. The Dutch governor, therefore, raised 600 
men and in 1655 sailed to Delaware. The opposing 
colonists hardly numbered more than the Dutch 
army. Their forts were captured and in a short time 
the authority of the Dutch was recognized. A few 
refractory persons only were sent out of the terri- 
tory. 

The Algonquin Indians seized the opportunity of- 
fered by Stuyvesant's absence in Delaware to rise 
against New Amsterdam, where they committed 



NEW YORK UNDER THE DUTCH. 



141 



some depredations. When the governor returned he 
speedily quieted them and granted favorable terms 
of peace. 

Eight years later, in 1663, trouble broke out with 
the river Indians. The savages fell upon Kingston 
and destroyed it, murdering sixty-five of the settlers. 
A Dutch force pursued and vanquished them, and 
peace was restored in the spring of the next year by 
a treaty. 

Difficulties internal and external arose around 
Stuyvesant, but the sturdy governor struggled brave- 
ly along. The territory which he had wrested froni 
the Swedes was claimed by Virginia and by Mary- 
land. Connecticut and Massachusetts threatened 
encroachments on New Netherlands. The Dutch 
settlers looked with envy on the prosperity of the 
New Englands colonies. Their own progress had not 
been correspondingly rapid, and for this they blamed 
the management of the West India Company. 

A grievous blow was awaiting the Dutch rule in 
New Netherlands. In 1664 the Duke of York, who 
afterward ruled England as James II., obtained from 
his brother Charles II. a patent for the country ex- 
tending from the Connecticut to the Delaware. He 
immediately set about acquiring the territory. A 
fleet, under Richard Nicolls, was sent to America 
and reached New Amsterdam in August. A camp 
was established in Brooklyn, and Long Island sub- 
mitted to the English. 

The Dutch governor demanded the reason of this 
invasion. He was informed that the English meant 
to obtain New Netherlands, by force if necessary. 
All who submitted were promised the rights of En- 
glishmen. 

The principal inhabitants of the city were assem- 
bled. They desired to surrender, wishing to avoid 
bloodshed, and contending that they would be better 



142 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

off under English rule. The governor argued and 
expostulated in vain; he raged and stormed; but the 
people would not support him, and the sturdy old 
soldier was forced to capitulate. On September 8th 
the English entered the town, and its name was 
changed to New York, which was also made the title 
of the whole province. 

Fort Orange and the other settlements under 
Dutch control soon submitted, and there was now 
not a single spot on the Atlantic coast, from the 
French possessions in the north to the Spanish do- 
minion in Florida, that was not under the English 
flag. 



NEW YORK UNDER THE ENGLISH, 143 



CHAPTER XVII. 

NEW YORK UNDER THE ENGLISH. 

Nicolls is made governor — The Dutch regain New Netherlands — 
The province finally comes under English authority — Sir Ed- 
mund Andros becomes governor — Attempts to gain possession 
of Connecticut and New Jersey — Dougan's administration — A 
treaty made with the Five Nations — Jacob Leisler — Slough- 
ter is made governor — Execution of Leisler and Milborne — 
Fletcher's governorship — King William's War — Bellomont be- 
comes governor — Captain Kidd — Queen Anne's War — Rela- 
tions with the Indians — The freedom of the press secured — 
The Negro Plot. 

Richard Nicolls became the first English governor 
of New York, and at once set about settling the 
boundaries of his province. He purchased the claim 
of the Earl of Stirling to Long Island, derived from 
a grant half a century previously. Connecticut also 
claimed the eastern part of the island. That colony 
was compensated for the disregard of her claim on 
the island by a change in her southwest boundary. 

The region which had been known as New Sweden, 
now called the Territories, was also ruled by the gov- 
ernor of New York through deputies, but the district 
that corresponded very nearly with the present state 
of New Jersey came under the sway of other propri- 
etors, Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, to whom 
it had been granted. 

Nicolls was followed by Lovelace as governor in 
1667. The liberties of the people, which under the 
first English governor had failed of the promised pro- 



144 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



tection, were now still further curtailed. Several towns 
on Long Island, and even the peaceable Swedes, re- 
sisted the tax-gatherers and declared their exactions 
illegal. 

War broke out again between England and Hol- 
land in 1672. A fleet was sent from Holland to New 
York the next year. The governor was away, his 
deputy was afraid to fight, the people, dissatisfied with 
English rule, offered no resistance. On July 30, 1673, 
New York surrendered. New Jersey and Delaware 
followed her example, and Holland once more pos- 
sessed her old territory under the former name of New 
Netherlands. 

But the Dutch did not long retain their conquest. 
A treaty of peace between England and Holland in 
1674 restored the province to England. The Duke of 
York secured anew patent from the king. The Dutch 
withdrew from the city on October 31st and Sir Ed- 
mund Andros became governor. From this time till 
the Revolution New York remained an English prov- 
ince. 

From what we have heard of Andros in New Eng- 
land we may suspect that he ruled with no light hand. 
But his tyranny, arbitrary actions, and illegal taxes 
so roused the people to demand a popular assembly 
that even Andros advised the Duke of York to grant 
their wish. But the proprietor, saying that such a 
body would be dangerous to peace and he saw no use 
for it, returned a negative answer. 

The Duke of York maintained that his patent gave 
him control of all the territory from the Connecticut 
River to Maryland, and Andros set about asserting 
this claim. He sailed with a company of soldiers to 
Saybrook, Connecticut, in 1675. But there he met 
such a firm front in the militia that he was obliged to 
withdraw. 

Andros also attempted to maintain the claim of his 



NEW YORK UNDER THE ENGLISH. 



145 



master in respect to New Jersey. He decreed that 
ships entering or leaving ports of New Jersey should 
pay duty at New York, but this order was openly vio- 
lated. He attempted to frighten the people into sub- 
mission by the arrest of the deputy-governor, Philip 
Carteret. He was rewarded, however, only with stub- 
born resistance for his pains, and the troubles did not 
end till the question was referred to an impartial tri- 
bunal, which decided adversely to the claim of the 
Duke of York. He acquiesced in the decision in 
1680. Two years later Delaware came under the 
jurisdiction of Pennsylvania, where it remained till 
the Revolution. 

The career of Andros as governor ended in 1683. 
Thomas Dougan, a Catholic, succeeded him. He 
came authorized by the duke to organize a popular 
assembly, which was at last granted to the long-con- 
tinued demand of the colonists. 

This assembly, in the first year of Dougan's ad- 
ministration, declared that the legislative power of 
the province lay in the governor, the council, and the 
people. Suffrage was granted to all freeholders, trial 
by jury was established, taxes were to be levied only 
by permission of the popular representatives, and 
other wise and liberal provisions were made. It is 
especially to be noted that every one who acknowl- 
edged the fundamental principles of religion was 
guaranteed protection. 

In 1684 the sachems of the Five Nations — the Mo- 
hawks, Senecas, Oneidas, Onondagas, and Cayugas — 
met the governors of New York and Virginia at Al- 
bany and made a mutual treaty of peac^e. The French 
tried in vain to induce the Indians to violate this com- 
pact; the Five Nations remained faithful and stood as 
a wall of defense between the New York settlements 
and Canada. 

Charles II. died in 1685, and his brother, the Duke 



146 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

of York, succeeded to the throne, reigning under the 
name of James II. He now took a backward step 
with reference to his province. The popular assembly- 
was abolished and an arbitrary^and despotic rule en- 
sued. 

We have read in the history of Massachusetts that 
in 1686 Edmund Andros became governor of New 
England. He sent Francis Nicholson to bring New 
York under his sway. That province remained a de- 
pendency of New England till 1689. The English 
people had deposed James II. in the previous year. 
Then New York rose against Nicholson and he was 
driven out. 

The guiding spirit in this insurrection was Jacob 
Leisler. He obtained the surrender of the fort of 
New York and organized a provisional government, 
to exist until William III., the king of England, should 
ordain another. The friends of Nicholson went to 
Albany, where they pursued a like course. 

In the fall of 1689 Milborne, Leisler's son-in-law, 
was sent to demand the surrender of Albany, but he 
failed to accomplish his object. King William's War 
now broke out, during which Schenectady was over- 
whelmed by the French and Indians, and the colony 
joined with Connecticut in organizing the fruitless 
land expedition against Montreal. These events have 
already been noted in the history of Massachusetts. 

Milborne once more attempted to overthrow the 
rival government at Albany. This time he was suc- 
cessful, and Leisler was in 1690 recognized as the 
temporary governor of the province. 

In the first monthof 1691 Richard Ingoldsby reached 
New York witfi a captain's commission. He brought 
the news that Colonel Sloughter had been appointed 
by the king as governor. Leisler refused to surrender 
the fort to Ingoldsby, claiming that the demand to do 
so was unauthorized by the king or royal governor, 



NEW YORK UNDER THE ENGLISH. 



147 



whose rights he was perfectly ready to admit. 
Sloughter himself arrived in March, and Leisler sent 
messengers to him offering submission. The messen- 
gers were arrested and Ingoldsby dispatched to re- 
ceive the surrender. Leisler desired to give the place 
into the governor's own hands, but, treated with 
scorn, he finally capitulated to Ingoldsby. He and 
Milborne were at once thrown into prison. 

Their trial for rebellion and treason came on. 
Dudley, chief justice of New England, rendered a 
decision unfavorable to the prisoners, and they were 
sentenced to death. Sloughter hesitated to carry out 
the sentence, but the royalists determined that the 
execution should take place. A banquet was pre- 
pared and the governor invited. When overcome by 
liquor he was induced to sign the death-warrant. 
No time was lost by the royalists. Lesler and Mil- 
borne were dragged from prison through a heavy 
rain on the following morning and were hanged on 
May i6th. But opinion afterward was more favor- 
able to their memory. The attainder was removed 
from their families and their confiscated estates re- 
stored. 

In this same year, 1691, the treaty with the Five 
Nations was renewed, and the next season the New 
York militia joined the Iroquois in an attack, which 
resulted successfully, on the French settlements. King 
William's War, it will be remembered, did not end till 
1697. 

On Sloughter's death Benjamin Fletcher became 
governor. He arrived in 1692 and at once renewed 
the treaty with the Five Nations. » 

The king desired to unite in one province all the 
territory from the Connecticut to the Delaware. 
Fletcher succeeded in achieving this result so far as 
New Jersey was concerned, but met in Hartford with 
such firmness that he soon retired from Connecticut 



148 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

An attempt on the part of Fletcher to establish the 
Episcopal Church in his province was prevented by 
the general assembly, who placed this church on a 
level with the others. 

The last attack during King William's War which 
New York sustained from the French was made in 
1696. By the aid of the Iroquois this was successfully 
resisted, and Frontenac, governor of Canada, who led 
the expedition, was obliged to retreat. In the follow- 
ing year the war was ended by the treaty of Rys- 
wick. 

In 1698 Fletcher was succeeded by the Earl of 
Bellomont, under whose wise administration peace 
and prosperity visited the colony. His jurisdiction 
embraced also Massachusetts and New Hampshire, 
though Connecticut and Rhode Island remained 
separate. 

This was the time when the famous Captain Kidd 
flourished. But he did not begin his career as a 
pirate. He set sail from England in a vessel commis- 
sioned as a privateer under the English flag, to help 
free the high seas from the pirates that infested it 
and to capture the merchant vessels of England's ene- 
mies. His ship was owned by the most worthy per- 
sons. Governor Bellomont himself being among the 
number. William Kidd, however, saw more profit in 
the career of a pirate and proved faithless to his trust. 
He continued for two years to practice piracy himself, 
and his course was not stopped till he appeared one 
day in the streets of Boston, where he was arrested. 
Being sent to England he was tried and hanged. 
From that day to this there has been a popular im- 
pression that Captain Kidd buried the vast treasures 
which he had gathered at points along our Atlantic 
coast, and many persons have searched on the shores 
of Long Island and elsewhere for the treasure. 

Bellomont was succeeded in 1702 by Lord Corn- 



NEW YORK UNDER THE ENGLISH, 149 

bury, who proved a bad governor. This same year 
marked the union under one executive, though with 
separate assemblies, of New York and New Jersey, the 
proprietors of the latter province having given up 
their rights to the king. This union continued for 
thirty-six years. 

The colonists received Cornbury on his arrival with 
•favor, which soon turned into hatred because of his 
unprincipled and despotic course. The people pe- 
titioned for his removal, and appropriations were re- 
fused till the governor was financially ruined. In 1708 
his political downfall also occurred, when he was super- 
seded by Lord Lovelace. Cornbury was arrested for 
debt and he remained in prison till his father died, 
when, becoming a peer of England, he could no longer 
be imprisoned. 

While Queen Anne's War was in progress, New 
York co-operated with the other colonies in the land 
expeditions against Canada. In the winter of 1 709-10, 
and again in 171 1, when Sir Hovenden Walker went 
to the St. Lawrence, the New York forces got as far 
north as Lake George, but each time the failure of the 
naval expedition compelled the withdrawal of the sol- 
diers. New York gained nothing during this war but 
a heavy debt. 

In 1713, the same year in which the war was ended 
by the treaty of Utrecht, the Tuscarora Indians of 
Carolina were driven out by the southern colonists. 
They journeyed northward to New York, where they 
made the sixth nation in the famous Indian confed- 
eracy. Several years later the governors of New 
York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia met the sachems of 
the Six Nations at Albany and negotiated a treaty 
with them, by which the valuable fur-trade previous- 
ly enjoyed by the French passed into the hands of 
the English. Oswego was established as a trading- 
post and later a fort was built there. The French 



I^o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

had in the meantime built a fort at Niagara and an- 
other at Crown Point, on Lake Champlain — places 
that were to become famous in the French and In- 
dian War. 

A great struggle was carried on in New York dur- 
ing the governorship of Crosby, who succeeded Bur- 
nett in 1732. The popular party maintained that the 
press should be allowed perfect freedom in criticising 
the acts of the government. The aristocratic party 
contended that this liberty would destroy all rever- 
ence for authority. 

Finally matters were brought to a head by the 
arrest, on the charge of libel against the government, 
of an editor, Zenger, who had published unfavorable 
comments on the governor's actions. The trial took 
place in 1735, the prisoner being ably defended by 
Andrew Hamilton, of Philadelphia. A verdict of ac- 
quittal was given by the jury. The people were 
rejoiced, and the aldermen of New York made Ham- 
ilton a handsome present. 

What is known as the Negro Plot occurred in the 
city of New York in 1741. Slavery had existed in 
the colony from an early period. Lately several fires 
had been attributed to the incendiary work of ne- 
groes. It was asserted that the slaves had made a 
plot to burn the city and overpower the whites. 
Freedom was offered to any slave who would divulge 
the plan. As a natural result, many stories were told 
and crowds of accused persons were arrested. Mat- 
ters were carried to a greater length still. After a 
hasty and unfair trial, about twenty of the prisoners 
were hanged, others were burned to death, and more 
than seventy-five were transported. When the people 
finally recovered from their madness, it began to be 
suspected that no such plot as was alleged had ever 
existed. Such, at any rate, is the decision of later 
times. 



NEW YORK UNDER THE ENGLISH, 



51 



From this time on we need not follow the individ- 
ual history of New York. During King George's 
War her territory was invaded a number of times by 
the French and Indians, but little damage was suf- 
fered, thanks largely to the English alliance with the 
Mohawks. 

The early years of the New York colony were not 
so prosperous as those of the last century, which have 
made the Empire State the first in the Union. In the 
middle of the eighteenth century her population was 
less than Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, 
Maryland, or Virginia. But her natural advantages 
of situation, climate, and soil, the Atlantic Ocean on 
the one side, the lakes on the other, the Hudson 
River, the fertile valleys, the magnificent harbor of 
New York, and her central position on the sea-coast, 
promised all the wealth and power which long since 
have fallen to her share. The Dutch and the English 
grew into one people, and their independent and 
liberal spirit has done much in the history of our 
country to advance the cause of popular freedom. 



IC2 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

CONNECTICUT. 

First settlements in Connecticut — The Pequod War — The Pequods 
exterminated — New Haven settled — The New England 
union — The Dutch and English — Winthrop obtains a char- 
ter — Andros is repulsed at Saybrook — The Charter Oak — 
Fletcher is overawed — Yale College founded. 

We have examined with some detail the history of 
the three chief colonies, Virginia in the south, Mas- 
sachusetts in the east, and New York in the center. 
W« now come to the colonies which demand less at- 
tention because of their smaller size, later period of 
formation, or less important history. 

In 1630 the Council of Plymouth made a grant to 
the Earl of Warwick in the present state of Connecti- 
cut. The next year this grant passed into the hands 
of Lord Say-and-Seal, Lord Brooke, and others. 
We have already learned that the Dutch from New 
Netherlands, claimmg the territory, built a fort on 
the site of Hartford in the early part of 1633. The 
Pilgrims of Massachusetts, however, claimed the ter- 
ritory, and Plymouth sent in this same year an ex- 
pedition which sailed up the river past Hartford, de- 
spite the threats of the Dutch, and founded Windsor. 

The first settlement under a commission from the 
proprietors was made in 1635 by the younger Win- 
throp, who was a worthy son of the distinguished 
governor of Massachusetts. He built a fort, which 
was named Saybrook, after two of the proprietors, 
at the mouth of the Connecticut, just m time to pre- 



CONNE C TIC UT. 153 

vent the passage up the river of a Dutch vessel. The 
Dutch at Hartford, finding that the English held the 
river above and below them, after a while withdrew. 

Later in this year a company cf emigrants from 
Massachusetts Bay reached the Connecticut valley, 
and they settled at Hartford, Windsor, and Wethers- 
field. 

No sooner had the settlement of Connecticut begun 
than the colonists came into collision with the Indians. 
At the outbreak of 
the Pequod War 
those savages could 
count 700 war- 
riors — a greater 
number, in propor- 
tion to the territo- 
ry, than the Indians 
could boast in any 
other part of New 
England. The 
whites could mus- 
ter but 200 soldiers. 

Difficulties com- 
menced as early as 
1633, when the crew 
of a Massachusetts 
trading-vessel were 

murdered on the Connecticut. The Indians sent mes- 
sengers to Boston with presents and promises. A peace 
was arranged, but before long it was broken by the 
savages, who committed another murder. This was 
avenged by the white men. The savages were now 
all fury. 

The Pequods sent an embassy to induce the Narra- 
gansett Indians to join them in the war against the 
English. They were well-nigh successful, but their 
attempt was finally frustrated by Roger Williams, who 




^^^^^^^2^" 



THE FIRST CHURCH ERECTED IN CONNECTICUT. 
HARTFORD, 1638. 



154 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

took his life in his hands, went among the savages, 
and persuaded the Narragansetts to maintain peace. 
The Mohegans were also invited to join the Pe- 
quods, but they refused, and lent their aid to the op- 
posite side. 

Many savage acts of outrage and cruelty forced the 
three towns of Connecticut — Hartford, Windsor, and 
Wethersfield — todeclare war inMay, 1637. Their sixty 
soldiers were joined by seventy Mohegans, and twen- 
ty soldiers, sent by Sir Henry Vane from Massachu- 
setts, added to the force. 

Under Captain John Mason, of Hartford, the com- 
pany sailed down the Connecticut and thence east- 
ward, passing the Thames and Mystic rivers, where 
the Pequods were massed in greatest force. Mason 
landed on the shore of Narragansett Bay, and after 
a vain attempt to persuade the neutral Narragansetts 
to join him, marched to the south and west. 

They came to the Mystic River and surrounded the 
Pequod fort. Before day broke they made a sudden . 
onslaught upon the Indians. Roused by the barking 
of a dog, the savages fought with desperation, and 
defeat threatened the English. Mason started a fire 
among the light mats of the cabins. Soon they were 
ablaze. The English surrounded the Indians and 
fired on all who attempted to escape. The victory 
was complete. At the cost of two killed and twenty 
wounded the English had broken the power of the 
Pequods. Six hundred men, women, and children 
perished. A few were made prisoners, and only a 
handful, the sachem, Sassacus, among the number, es- 
caped. Sassacus met his death among the Mohawks, 
to whom he had fled for protection. In the morning 
300 Pequods came from another fort in the neighbor- 
hood, expecting to find llieir brethren exulting in vic- 
tory. Finding instead a ruined town and heaps of 
their friends slain, they betook themselves to the 



CONblECTICUT. 155 

woods. Mason returned to Hartford. More soldiers 
came from Massachusetts. The Pequods were hunted 
down till nearly all had been killed or captured. The 
prisoners were given to the Narragansetts and Mo- 
hegans as servants or were sold as slaves. Their na- 
tion was extinct. 

The pursuit of the Pequods had led the soldiers to 
the shores of Long Island Sound west of Saybrook. 
Some of the Massachusetts men built cabins and re- 
mained for the winter. In the next year, 1638, New 
Haven was made a permanent settlement by the ar- 
rival of a company of Puritans from England by way 
of Boston, under Theophilus Eaton and their pastor, 
John Davenport. 

New Haven commenced its career under an organ- 
ized government in 1639, the Bible being adopted as 
the constitution of the colony. Annual elections were 
provided for, but the right of suffrage was allowed 
only to church-members. Eaton was re-elected for 
nearly twenty consecutive years, and managed the 
affairs of the colony with great wisdom. 

Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield, which had 
hitherto been subject to Massachusetts, organized a 
liberal government of their own in 1639. They were 
known as Connecticut. In 1643 Connecticut and New 
Haven united with Massachusetts and Plymouth in 
forming the union of New England, and in the next 
year Saybrook was obtained by purchase and an- 
nexed to Connecticut. 

The danger of Dutch interference seemed to be re- 
moved when Governor Stuyvesant, of New York, met 
the delegates of New England at Hartford in 1650 
and arranged a treaty. But war soon broke out be- 
tween England and Holland. Connecticut and New 
Haven, left without support by the other members of 
the union, called on Cromwell for aid. Stuyvesant 
had been suspected of urging the Indians to attack 



156 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the English. Peace was declared, however, before 
any casualties occurred. 

When monarchy was restored in England in 1660, 
Connecticut at once recognized the authority of 
Charles II. She desired a royal charter, and drawing 
up one to*suit her own notions, sent Winthrop to 
England to obtain the king's assent. He succeeded 
in his endeavor in 1662, partly by the aid of Lord 
Say-and-Seal and other friends, partly by the exhibi- 
tion of a ring which the king's father, Charles I., had 
given as a pledge of friendship to Winthrop's grand- 
father. 

The charter was exceedingly liberal, and Connecti- 
cut was made practically independent of all interfer- 
ence. Her territory extended from Narragansett 
Bay and River west to the Pacific. New Haven was 
thus joined to the commonwealth of Connecticut. 

Winthrop, by his wisdom, ability, and success in 
their cause, had endeared himself to the colonists of 
Connecticut. He was re-elected for fourteen years 
as the governor of the colony, which prospered great- 
ly under his administration. During King Philip's 
War Connecticut aided the other colonies against the 
Indians, but her villages never suffered from attacks 
by the savages. 

In 1675, when Sir Edmund Andros was governor of 
New York, he came with armed sloops to Connecticut 
to bring the colony under the jurisdiction of the Duke 
of York. The assembly of the colony had been con- 
vened, and orders were given to Captain Bull, who 
commanded the fort at Saybrook, to resist this at- 
tempt. Andros hoisted the English flag and de- 
manded surrender. Bull displayed the same banner 
and refused. Andros landed and a parley ensued. 
He ordered the duke's patent and his own commis- 
sion to be read. Bull, in the king's name, command- 
ed that he desist. The firmness of the Connecticut 



CONNECTICUT, 



157 



militia finally frightened him into withdrawing with 
his soldiers. 

Once more Andros came into collision with the 
spirit of the Connecticut colony. In 1686 he was made 
governor of New England. The next year he came to 
Hartford, seized the minutes of the assembly, and 
wrote Finis at the end. He demanded the charter. 
The original or a duplicate was brought out and lay 
on a table while Governor Treat was pleading to re- 
tain it. Darkness came on, the lights were extin- 
guished, and before they could be rekindled Joseph 
Wadsworth, of Hart- 
ford, had secured the 
document. It is said 
that he preserved it 
in the Charter Oak 
which long stood in 
Hartford. Andros, 
however, maintained 
his authority until 
the English Revolu- 
tion of 1688. His 
power was over- 
thrown with that of 
his master, James II., 
and the next year Connecticut regained her freedom. 

In 1693, when Fletcher was governor of New York, 
he went to Hartford to take command of the militia. 
Connecticut considered this a violation of her charter 
and refused to recognize his authority. The story 
runs that the soldiers were assembled and Fletcher 
commenced to read his commission as colonel. He 
was hindered by Captain Wadsworth, of Connecticut, 
who ordered the drums to be beaten. " Silence!" said 
Fletcher, and proceeded with his reading. "Drum!" 
shouted Wadsworth. *' Silence!" once more cried 
Fletcher. This was too much for the spirit of Wads- 




THE CHARTER OAK. 



158 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

worth. He stepped forward and said: '' Colonel 
Fletcher, if I am interrupted again I will let the sun- 
shine through your body in an instant." Fletcher 
withdrew. 

In 1700 Yale College was founded by several clergy- 
men. Saybrook was its first site, and the first com- 
mencement was held there in 1702. In 1716 it was 
removed to New Haven, and two years later it took 
its present name in honor of a liberal patron, Elishu 
Yale. New Haven is still proud of containing one of 
the earliest and foremost institutions of learning in 
the country. 

During the first half of the eighteenth century Con- 
necticut pursued a peaceful and prosperous career, 
attended with few stirring events. 



RHODE ISLAND. 159 



CHAPTER XIX. 

RHODE ISLAND. 

Roger Williams — Providence settled — Relations with the Indians — 
Newport founded — A democracy established — Williams se- 
cures a charter — The charter renewed by Charles II. — Andres 
assumes authority — His overthrow. 

When Roger Williams was banished from Massa- 
chusetts Bay in 1636 he wandered for some time 
among the savages, from whom he met with great 
kindness. He returned their good feeling and was 
always the friend of the Wampanoags and Narra- 
gansetts. 

At Seekonk, not far from the head of Narragansett 
Bay, he built a shelter and began to till the soil. 
But Plymouth claimed the territory. Williams, 
therefore, embarked in a canoe with five companions 
and finally came to a spot which he called Providence, 
in recognition of God's mercy shown toward him. 
Land was purchased from the Narragansetts, other 
exiles joined the first, and in June, 1636, the colony of 
Providence Plantations was begun. 

Williams was one of a sect known as the Anabap- 
tists, who disputed the efficacy of infant baptism. 
He had been baptized when a child, but now desired 
in his manhood to receive baptism once more. He 
selected a layman to perform the ceremony on him, 
and then he himself baptized several persons; thus 
was started the first Baptist Church in this country. 

Roger Williams was of course the leading spirit in 



l6o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the colony, but he took no great authority to him- 
self. The colonists made a simple agreement among 
themselves to observe the will of the majority, and 
in questions of religion to leave each man to follow 
the dictates of his own conscience. 

Under this simple and liberal policy the colony 
prospered. Williams had so won the confidence of 
Miantonomoh, sachem of the Narragansetts, that he 
was able to give notice of the Pequod conspiracy and 
prevent the Narragansetts from joining it. This ac- 
tion awoke the gratitude of many of the Massachu- 
setts colonists, who proposed that Williams and his 
friends should be recalled from banishment. Bigoted 
opinions, however, prevailed and the suggestion was 
not adopted. During the Pequod War Providence 
Plantations was saved from invasion by the interven- 
ing tribe of friendly Narragansetts. 

In 1638 Anne Hutchinson arrived with some of her 
friends, chief among whom were John Clarke and 
William Coddington. They had intended to journey 
further before settling, but Governor Vane, of Mas- 
sachusetts, induced Miantonomoh to make them a 
present of Aquidneck, or Rhode Island. Here they 
settled at Portsmouth and organized a colony after 
the pattern of the Jewish nation. In 1639 more 
modern notions were introduced into the plan of 
government, and in the same year Newport was 
founded. 

In 1641 a more perfect government was organized 
by these settlers and called the Plantation of Rhode 
Island. This " democracie," or government by the 
people, was to be governed by the vote of a majority 
of the freemen, and religious liberty was as great as 
in the Providence Plantations. 

When the union of New England was formed in 
1643, Providence and Rhode Island were refused ad- 
mission because of their religious liberality. It 



RHODE I SLA AW, i6i 

looked as if they were to be claimed by Plymouth as 
under her jurisdiction. Roger Williams was there- 
fore sent to London to obtain a charter, which he 
succeeded in securing in 1644. The first assembly 
under this charter met in 1647 at Portsmouth, and a 
president and other officers were chosen. The re- 
ligious tolerance of the colony remained unchanged. 

In 165 1 William Coddington obtained a decree 
from the English council of state separating Rhode 
Island from the common government. Roger Will- 
iams went again to London and secured a revoca- 
tion of the decree. The people desired that the En- 
glish council should commission him as governor of 
the province, but Williams refused to accept the 
honor. 

John Clarke had aided Williams in having the 
separation annulled. He remained in England and 
was of great aid in obtaining a renewal of the charter 
when monarchy was restored in England. It was a 
matter of doubt whether Charles II. would renew an 
instrument granted by the Parliament which had 
waged war against his father. The colonists, there- 
fore, were filled with rejoicings when he signed it in 
1663, with no diminution of its liberality. Under the 
provisions of this charter Rhode Island was gov- 
erned till 1843, even after the colony had become a 
state. 

During King Philip's War Rhode Island suffered 
considerably, but in her general prosperity this dam- 
age was forgotten. Her liberties, however, suffered 
much loss in 1687, when Andros, the governor of 
New England, took away her charter and appointed 
five councillors to manage her affairs. 

When, in 1689, the news of the English Revolution 
reached Rhode Island, the colonists desired to re- 
establish their old government. They elected a gov- 
ernor, who declined to serve, and then another, who 



1 62 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

also refused. Finally Henry Bull, one of the original 
founders of the colony and now an old man, consent- 
ed to act as their ruler, and under his administration 
their old liberties were restored. 

Rhode Island, though small in the extent of her 
territory, will always be remembered as the colony 
wherein the first government known to the history of 
the Christian world founded on the principles of indi- 
vidual liberty of conscience was established ; and for 
maintaining these principles and aiding so wisely and 
effectively in their adoption and practice, the memory 
of Roger Williams will always be revered. 



NE W HA MP SHIRE. i d^ 



CHAPTER XX. 

NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

The grant to Gorges and Mason — Portsmouth and Dover set- 
tled — New Hampshire joined to Massachusetts — Is made a 
separate royal province — Governor Cranfield — Authority of 
Andros in New Hampshire — Land troubles. 

In 1622 the Council of Plymouth granted to Sir 
Ferdinand Gorges and John Mason the territory lying 
between the Kennebec and Merrimac rivers and ex- 
tending from the ocean to the St. Lawrence. 

The proprietors at once took steps to secure their 
domain, and sent out colonists. Some of these set- 
tled in 1623 at Little Harbor, two miles south of the 
present site of Portsmouth, and others founded Do- 
ver. Portsmouth and Dover are therefore among 
the oldest New England towns, but for many years 
these two villages were small and inhabited chiefly by 
fishermen. 

The proprietors divided their territory in 1629, Ma- 
son obtaining the region between the Piscataqua and 
the Merrimac and Gorges taking the remainder. In 
the same year Rev. John Wheelright, who afterward 
was known in Massachusetts as one of the partisans 
of Anne Hutchinson, purchased from the Abenaki 
Indians their claims to the land which Mason held. 
In 1630, however. Mason received a new patent con- 
firming his title, and the province was henceforth 
known as New Hampshire instead of Laconia. Massa- 
chusetts soon began to assert her rights to its juris- 
diction. 



1 64 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

After the death of Mason in 1635 his v/idow man- 
aged the affairs of the colony for a few years. She 
was not equal to the task, however, and the expenses 
exceeded the revenues. The scattered inhabitants 
of the province were, therefore, left to themselves. 
When Anne Hutchinson and her friends were ban- 
ished from Massachusetts, Wheelright and others 
went northward and founded a colony at Exeter on 
liberal principles. 

When the government of Massachusetts began to 
settle into a more firm and liberal shape, the colonists 
of New Hampshire became willing and even anxious 
to be taken under its jurisdiction. In 1642, by the 
act of her own colonists. New Hampshire was made a 
part of Massachusetts, on equal terms with the rest of 
that colony. In fact, the settlers of Dover and New 
Hampshire were allowed more religious freedom than 
the inhabitants of Massachusetts Bay. They were not 
Puritans, and therefore it was agreed that church- 
membership should not be the test of a freeman. 

This union lasted for thirty-seven years. The heirs 
of the original proprietor, meanwhile, had laid claim 
to the province, and the courts of England had de- 
cided that their claim was good as regarded the soil 
of New Hampshire, though invalid as to its govern- 
ment. Then it was argued that the courts of Mas- 
sachusetts would never decide in favor of the heirs 
of Mason in their claims against the possessors of 
the ground; it was contended that colonial courts 
could not be established except in a separate colony. 
King Charles II., therefore, decreed in 1679 that New 
Hampshire should henceforth be a royal province, 
and Edward Cranfield was named as governor. 

Before Cranfield arrived the colonists had called a 
popular assembly, which declared that no law should 
be valid without the consent of the people and their 
representatives. In 1682 Cranfield dismissed the as- 



NE W HA MP SHIRE. 1 6 5 

sembly. Thepeople were enraged at tlifts exhibition 
of despotism. They resisted the attempts of the 
royal officers to collect rents. The governor ordered 
out the militia. Not a soldier responded. The stub- 
bornness of the people was too much for Cranfield to 
bear, and he wrote to England requesting to be re- 
lieved from his unpleasant position. Thus the colo- 
nists shook off their unpopular governor. 

A renewal of the union with Massachusetts was now 
desired, but before this could be consummated An- 
dros became governor of New England. New Hamp- 
shire could do nothing where stronger provinces 
failed, and therefore submitted to his authority. But 
in 1689, as we have read, Massachusetts imprisoned 
the tyrant, and New Hampshire also became free once 
more. 

A general assembly, which met at Portsmouth the 
next year, passed an act uniting New Hampshire with 
Massachusetts, but two years later this action was re- 
versed by the English government, and the two prov- 
inces were once more separated. When the Earl of 
Bellomont became governor of New York in 1698, 
Massachusetts and New Hampshire were added to 
his jurisdiction, and from this time till 1741 the two 
latter colonies were joined under the same royal gov- 
ernment. 

The difficulties about the land had meanwhile con- 
tinued. The claims of Mason's heirs had been trans- 
ferred in 1691 to one Samuel Allen. A relation of his. 
Usher by name, was appointed deputy-governor, and 
he made numerous vain attempts to gain possession 
of the land. After Allen died his heirs gave up their 
endeavors in 1715. But later on a descendant of 
Mason discovered a defect in the deed that had been 
made to Allen, and once more an attempt, useless as 
the others, was made to recover the soil. The matter 
was finally settled by allowing the Masonian claim to 



1 66 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the unoccupied parts of the province on a surrender 
of all claims to the remainder. 

During the wars with the French and the Indians 
New Hampshire suffered severely, but her settlers 
were hardy and gradually recovered from these blows. 
The colony at first grew slowly; thirty years after its 
foundation Portsmouth numbered but fifty or sixty 
families. But the rugged climate and the difficulties 
through which they passed developed in New Hamp- 
shire a robust, independent, and patriotic people. 



NEW JERSEY, 167 



CHAPTER XXI. 

NEW JERSEY. 

Early settlements — Berkeley and Carteret become proprietors — 
Elizabethtown settled — The government of the colony — Land 
troubles — Berkeley sells his interest — It comes into the hands 
of Penn and other Quakers — East and West Jersey — The 
Duke of York relinquishes his claims — East Jersey purchased 
by the Quakers — The authority of Andros in Jersey — New 
Jersey becomes a royal province. 

The first settlement in New Jersey seems to have 
been a trading-station established in 1618 at Bergen, 
opposite New Amsterdam; but permanent houses 
were not built here till 1658. Fort Nassau was built 
in 1623 by the Dutch but was soon vacated. In 1634 
not a single white man lived in the part of the terri- 
tory south of Camden. In 165 1 a grant was made 
that included the site of Elizabethtown, but no settle- 
ments were made therein, and in 1658 a grant includ- 
ing Bergen was made and that place became a per- 
manent settlement. 

The first English settlement, however, from the 
date of which the history of New Jersey fairly begins, 
did not take place till 1664. The territory had been 
included in the grant which Charles II. made to his 
brother James, Duke of York, and by him it had been 
assigned to the proprietors of Carolina, Lord Berkeley 
and Sir George Carteret. Shortly after the Duke of 
York obtained possession of his province, Governor 
Nicolls granted a tract of land on Newark Bey to a 



1 68 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

company of Puritans, and in October, 1664, Elizabeth- 
town was settled. 

In 1665 Philip Carteret, son of one of the propri- 
etors, came with a commission as governor. Nicolls, 
although he would not at first believe that the Duke 
of York had disposed of part of his territory, could 
not prevent Carteret from taking possession. Eliza- 
bethtown was made the capital of the province, New- 
ark and other villages were established, and the ter- 
ritory was named New Jersey, after the island of 
Jersey in the English Channel, of which Sir George 
Carteret had been governor. 

A liberal constitution was given to the colony, 
though the proprietors were royalists. A governor, 
a council, and a popular assembly were provided for, 
taxes were to be levied only with the consent of the 
people's representatives, and freedom of conscience 
was guaranteed. Berkeley and Carteret kept in 
their own hands the appointment of governor and 
judges and the right of veto on acts of the assembly. 
The settlers were given the land for a quit-rent of 
half a penny an acre, which was not to be called for 
till 1670. 

The first assembly met in 1668 and was almost 
wholly composed of Puritans. Everything went 
smoothly till the quit-rents became due. By this 
time the settlers had bought their lands from the 
Indians and from Nicolls, of New York, who still 
maintained his right to Jersey. They resisted, there- 
fore, the collection of the rents, and in 1672 the as- 
sembly deposed the governor. In his place was 
chosen George Carteret, another son of Sir George. 

We have read that in 1673 the Dutch regained pos- 
session of New Netherlands, which included New Jer- 
sey, and retained their hold on the territory for a few 
months. Then the Duke of York came once more 
into possession of his province, which by a new 



NEW JERSEY. 169 

charter extended from the Connecticut to the Dela- 
ware. He confirmed his previous grant to Berkeley 
and Carteret, but in spite of this appointed Sir Ed- 
mund Andros governor of the whole territory. Car- 
teret was not inclined to withdraw his claim, but 
Berkeley, reasonably enough disgusted at this pro- 
cedure, sold his interest to John Fenwick as trustee 
for Edward Byllinge. 

Philip Carteret returned and resumed his governor- 
ship in 1675. How Andros showed his tyrannical 
nature in New Jersey; how he ordered vessels trading 
with and from that province to pay duties at New 
York; and how he finally arrested Philip Carteret, we 
have already learned. In the meantime Byllinge be- 
came involved in debt, and an assignment for the 
benefit of his creditors had been made to certain 
trustees, among whom was William Penn. 

The sect of Quakers, to which these trustees be- 
longed, had suffered persecution in England in com- 
mon with other religious bodies that dissented from 
the Established Church. Here was a good opportu- 
nity for providing a refuge for them from the oppres- 
sion they endured. A division of New Jersey was 
proposed to Sir George Carteret. The proposition 
met with favor in his eyes, and an agreement w^as 
made in 1676 by which the territory was divided into 
East and West Jersey. The two portions were sepa- 
rated by an imaginary line running ^rom Little Egg 
Harbor on the Atlantic coast to a point on the Dela- 
ware in latitude forty-one degrees and forty minutes. 
The eastern part remained in the possession of Carter- 
et, while the western part went to Penn and the other 
trustees of Byllinge. 

Early in the next year the proprietors of West Jer- 
sey gave to the people a body of laws which they 
termed concessions — a simple and liberal code. The 
Quakers of England were invited to the New World, 
and before long a colony of 400 arrived. 



I70 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



At New Castle, on the Delaware, an agent of the 
Duke of York obliged ships ascending to New Jersey 
to pay tribute. The Quakers maintained that this 
was a violation of their rights and sent a remon- 
strance to England. The matter was referred to an 
impartial commission, which decided that the Duke 
of York was in the wrong. Obstinate though he was, 
he acquiesced in the decision, and in 1680 relinquished 
all claim to the territory and the government of West 
Jersey, The heirs of Sir George Carteret were not 
slow in obtaining a similar deed freeing East Jersey 
from all interference. 

The first general assembly of West Jersey met in 
1681 and reaffirmed the concessions. Perfect equality 
of all men in the eye of the law was the corner-stone 
of the government. No one was to be imprisoned for 
debt. No liquor was to be sold to the Indians and 
their lands were to be purchased. 

The province of East Jersey was obtained by pur- 
chase in 1682 by William Penn and eleven other 
Friends, as the Quakers call themselves. Robert Bar- 
clay, a Scotch Quaker, was appointed governor for 
life over the united provinces. During his adminis- 
tration Scotch Quakers and Presbyterians came in 
large numbers to New Jersey. 

We have already been obliged to refer many times 
to the appointment of Andros as royal governor of 
New England in 1686. We have seen how Maine, 
New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Con- 
necticut, and New York all came under his sway. 
New Jersey, the most southerly province over which 
his jurisdiction extended, came into his power in 
1688 with New York. But the next year he was 
overthrown and Jersey was free from his tyranny. 

Difficulties, however, encompassed her path. Both 
East and West Jersey were claimed by the king, by 
New York, by Penn and his fellow-Quakers. East 



NEW JERSEY. 17 1 

Jersey, moreover, had other claimants in the persons 
of Carteret's representatives, and West Jersey in the 
heirs of Byllinge. For several years there was no 
stable government, and for ten years longer the 
troubles caused by these rival claims did not cease. 

Finally an arrangement was effected by which the 
governmental rights to the territory were yielded to 
the crown, and in 1702 New Jersey became a royal 
province. 

At first New Jersey and New York were united 
under one governor, though retaining their separate 
assemblies. But the people desired a complete sep- 
aration. At last, in 1738, their prayer was granted, 
largely through the influence of Lewis Morris, who 
was made the first royal governor of the now sep- 
arate province. It remained under the crown till the 
Revolution. 

New Jersey suffered little from the wars with the 
Indians and French which affected New England 
severely. It was the colony that marked the separa- 
tion between the Pilgrims of the east and the royalists 
of the south, and the union of sturdy Puritans and 
peaceful Quakers formed a happy combination. 



172 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

William Penn obtains a grant of land — His honesty and liberal- 
ity — Delaware acquired — A treaty with the Indians — Philadel- 
phia founded — Delaware separated — Penn loses his proprie- 
torship — Regains it — Delaware and Pennsylvania again partly 
separated — Penn's trials and death — Mason and Dixon's line. 

We have seen how largely the success of New 
Jersey was due to the Quakers. Now we come to 
another colony in which they were the originating 
and governing element. 

William Penn, encouraged by the prospects in New 
Jersey, went to Charles I , and by the aid of power- 
ful friends obtained in 1681 a grant of territory, which 
after him was named Pennsylvania His domain, 
bounded by the Delaware River on the east, ex- 
tended westward for five degrees of longitude and 
north and south for three degrees of latitude The 
counties comprising the present state of Delaware re- 
mained in the possession of the Duke of York. 

The humane principles of the Quakers found fit ex- 
pression in the acts of Penn. He gave the Swedes who 
had settled within his territory to understand that they 
would not be disturbed. He promised also to all who 
would emigrate to his province equality and freedom 
of conscience. Three ships soon set sail with a colony 
of Quakers under William Markham as deputy-gov- 
ernor, who was instructed to practice justice to all 
men, and especially to make friends with the Indians 

Penn was not a man of large property, and his re- 



PENNS YL VA NT A . 



173 



sources had been impaired by the help he had given 
the persecuted brethren of his sect. The expenses of 
establishing colonies would be large, and a company 
of traders made him a tempting; offer for a monopoly 
of the Indian traffic. He refused their offer with a 
noble spirit. Such a monopoly would have been con- 
trary to his religious principles. He framed an ex- 
tremely liberal con- 
stitution and sub' 
mitted it to the col- 
onists for ratifica- 
tion. 

Penn induced the 
Duke of York to 
give up to him the 
province of Dela- 
ware so that access 
to the ocean might 
be unhindered, and 
in 1682 he set sail 
from England with a 
large number of em- 
igrants and landed 
at New Castle. 
Thence Penn pro- 
ceeded up the Dela- 
ware,passed through 
the Jerseys, and staid 
for a while in New York, after which he returned to 
regulate his province. 

The sachems of the Indian tribes were invited to a 
conference. Unarmed they met William Penn and a 
few friends equally defenseless. Penn called the In- 
dians his brethren, promised to deal justly with them, 
and to settle all disputes by arbitration. The Indians 
agreed to live forever in peace with the Quakers. 
Though devoid of formalities, of writing and signing, 




WILLIAM PE." 



174 



HIS TOR Y OF THE UNITED ST A TES. 



a more binding treaty was never made. The dis- 
tinctive garb of the Quaker was always respected by 
the Indians as sacred, and as long as Pennsylvania 
remained under the control of the Quakers (for more 
than seventy years) no act of Indian outrage, such as 
happened in every other colony, occurred within her 
borders. 

In December of the year in which he arrived, 1682, 
Penn called a convention of the people. They ap- 
peared by their representatives, and a liberal plan of 
government was adopted. Penn then had iv confer- 
ence with Lord Baltimore, the proprietor of Mary- 
land, in regard to the boundaries of the two provinces, 
but reached no decision. 

Penn now selected a fine site for his capital, and the 
city of Philadelphia, which means "brotherly love," 
was laid out in the latter part of 1682 and the begin- 
nmg of the next year. 

The assembly soon met there and completed the 
organization of the government. Had it not been for 
Penn's hereditary office of proprietor, the colony 
would have been a thorough representative democ- 
racy. But he did not take advantage of his position; 
almost everything was left to the people, though Penn 
retained the right to veto acts of the council. 

Philadelphia grew rapidly. In two years it con- 
tained 600 dwellings and in another twelvemonth it 
was larger than New York. After seeing the city 
well started on its prosperous career Penn returned 
to England in 1684. 

In 1691 the three lower colonies which had consti- 
tuted Delaware, becoming dissatisfied with the course 
of the general assembly, asked for a separation. Penn 
consented, though reluctantly, and a separate deputy- 
governor was appointed. 

It was not long, however, that Delaware, or Penn- 
svlvania either, was left to itself. When William and 



FENNS YL VANIA. 



175 



Mary came to the English throne, in 1689, Penn fell 
under suspicion of too much friendliness for the exiled 
king, James II. In 1692 his proprietorship was taken 
away and Pennsylvania was placed under the juris- 
diction of Governor Fletcher, of New York. In the 
next year the same course was pursued with Dela- 
ware. But finally Penn was found innocent of the 
suspicions against him, and he recovered Pennsylva- 
nia and Delaware. 

In 1699 the proprietor visited his colony again. 
Amid the general prosperity the lower counties were 
still dissatisfied. In 1703 Delaware and Pennsylvania 
were finally separated, though both continued under 
the proprietorship of Penn and under a single gov- 
ernor. 

In 1701 Penn returned to England, leaving his prov- 
ince peaceful, unarmed, and prosperous. He was able 
to prevent Pennsylvania's being made a royal colony 
in accordance with the design that the ministers en- 
tertained for all the colonies. Principles of peace 
continued to prevail in Pennsylvania and caused the 
removal in 1708 of a deputy-governor, John Evans, 
who had purchased munitions of war and attempted 
to organize a militia regiment. 

In England, before his death in 1718, Penn suffered 
from the dishonesty of his English agent, who involved 
him in debt and actually had him imprisoned. After 
a confinement of several months he was released and 
ended his days in peace. His sons inherited his es- 
tates, and by them or their deputies Pennsylvania 
was governed till the Revolution. Their rights to the 
soil and government were purchased by the legisla- 
ture of Pennsylvania in 1779 for ;z^i3o,coo. 

A German element was introduced into the colony 
about 1730, when a large immigration of that people 
commenced. They settled chiefly in the region adja- 
cent to Philadelphia. 



1 7 6 His 7 OR Y OF THE UNI TED S TA TE S. 

It will be remembered that P^nn had been unable 
to arrive at any agreement with Lord Baltimore as to 
the latter's claim to Delaware. After Penn's return 
to England it was settled by competent authorities 
that Delaware w^as not a part of Maryland. The 
boundaries of Maryland, however, were not settled 
till they became a subject in chancery, and Lord 
Hardwicke decreed their extent in 1650. In 1664 two 
surveyors, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, who 
had been employed to trace the boundary, commenced 
their work. Mason and Dixon's line, about which we 
shall hear in the troubles over the slavery question 
which preceded the Civil War of the Union, was com- 
pleted by other surveyors and marked the southern 
boundary of Pennsylvania. 

Such is the history of the colony that was founded 
on principles of greater freedom than any of the others. 
They bore magnificent fruit in the time of the Revo- 
lution. It was in Philadelphia that the delegates of 
the colonies discussed and signed the Declaration of 
Independence. 



MARYLAND. 



177 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

MARYLAND. 

William Clayborne — The Catholics of England — Sir George Cal- 
vert establishes a colony in Newfoundland — He visits Vir- 
ginia — Cecil, Lord Baltimore, obtains a grant of Maryland — 
St. Mary's founded — Difficulties with Clayborne — He is driven 
away — Afterward returns — He directs affairs for a year — Is 
overthrown — Liberal religious policy of the colony — Clayborne 
is appointed one of the commissioners to control the Chesa- 
peake colonies — Internal dissensions — Harsh acts of the Prot- 
estant assembly — The Convention of Associates — Maryland 
becomes a royal province — It is restored to the Calverts. 

A Catholic colony, but originally as free as the 
freest. A history full of internal dissensions, but 
largely from the acts of the Protestants. 

After the explorations of Captain John Smith in 
the Chesapeake, we hear next of William Clayborne, 
who was sent by the London Company in 1621 to 
make a map of the upper part of the bay. That cor- 
poration, in its second charter, had acquired territory 
to the north of its first grant, so that it now claimed 
jurisdiction to the forty-first degree of latitude. Our 
present Delaware, Maryland, and a large part of New 
Jersey and Pennsylvania were included in its domain. 

Clayborne was an official and a man of prominence 
in Virginia. In 1631, acting under a commission, he 
established a trading-station on Kent Island and an- 
other near Havre de Grace, at the head of the bay. 

Meanwhile events had occurred which ultimately 
threw Maryland into quite other hands. The Cath- 
olics of England, in common with the Puritans, had 



iy8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

suffered persecution from the Established Church. 
One of their faith was Sir George Calvert, who was 
afterward made Lord Baltimore — a man of much ex- 
perience and of kindly disposition. To find a refuge in 
the New World for the members of his sect became a 
leading thought with him. He obtained from James 
I. a grant of part of Newfoundland, where he estab- 
lished a colony in 1623. But the soil and climate in 
this location were not such as to promise success, and 
Lord Baltimore saw that a more favorable spot must 
be chosen. 

In 1629 he went to Virginia. But he was not fa- 
vorably received there because of his refusal to take 
the oath of allegiance, which had been purposely 
framed so that no conscientious Catholic could ac- 
cept it. The climate, however, delighted him, and he 
requested Charles L to make him a grant of territory. 
This could be easily done, as the London Company 
had by this time been dissolved and Virginia was a 
royal province. 

Lord Baltimore died before the charter could be 
granted. It was issued, therefore, to his son Cecil, 
the second Lord Baltimore, in June, 1632. The terri- 
tory granted was bounded on the north by the forti- 
eth parallel of latitude, on the south by the Potomac 
and a line drawn from its mouth to the ocean, on the 
east by the Atlantic, and on the west by a line drawn 
north from the head-waters of the Potomac. This do- 
main included considerably more than the present 
state of Maryland — so named by the king in honor of 
his queen, Henrietta Maria. The people were to be 
their own law-makers, and the proprietor retained 
only the right of appointing officers. No religious 
sect was to receive special favor, though the princi- 
ples of Christianity were recognized. 

The second Lord Baltimore organized a colony 
which was intrusted to the care of his brother, Leon- 



MAR YLAND. 



179 



ard Calvert. In 1634 they reached America and 
were well received in Virginia, owing to a letter sent 
by the king to the governor of that province. Land 
was purchased from the Indians and a settlement was 
made on a stream flowing into the Potomac. The 
village was called St. Mary's, and the river is now 
known by the same name. 

The Indians were treated with fairness and became 
the friends of the English. Everything prospered. 
In six months the colony had progressed more than 
Virginia had in as many years. It is worthy of note 
that this colony, founded by a Catholic, but of ex- 
treme liberality, was established two years before 
Roger Williams settled at Providence. 

Before long a government was organized, and then 
trouble arose with Clayborne, who still occupied Kent 
Island and refused to recognize the rights of Lord 
Baltimore. He came into conflict with the rightful 
settlers in 1637 and suffered defeat. The settlement 
on Kent Island was vanquished and one or two exe- 
cutions followed. 

Clayborne himself, however, fled to Virginia, the 
governor of which province refused to surrender him 
and sent him to England. The Maryland colony tried 
and condemned him, though absent, on charges of 
murder and piracy. In England Clayborne appealed 
to the king, and a committee of Parliament heard the 
case and decided that Lord Baltimore's claims were 
perfectly valid. Clayborne, however, escaped pun- 
ishment. 

Representative government on liberal principles 
was adopted in Maryland in 1639. Three years later 
hostilities began with the Indians, during the two 
years' continuance of which, however, the few and 
compact settlements suffered little damage. 

The civil war had now commenced in England and 
the king was fully occupied with his own dangerous 



i8o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

fortunes. The opportunity was tempting to Clay- 
borne, who came to Maryland in 1644 to stir up dis- 
cord. Early the next year an insurrection occurred, 
with Clayborne as leader. For a time he was suc- 
cessful. Leonard Calvert, the governor, was obliged 
to take refuge in Virginia. Clayborne destroyed the 
records of Maryland and for more than a year was 
master of the situation. Calvert meanwhile had col- 
lected a force and now returned to his province. In 
August, 1646, he succeeded in restoring his power. 
With the greatest humanity the rebels were pardoned 
by a general amnesty. 

In 1649 the legislative body of the colony pre- 
scribed laws for securing religious freedom. Every 
one who believed in the cardinal principles of Chris- 
tianity should be safe from persecution. It was even 
made an offense, punishable with a fine, to use the 
harsh terms common in religious disputes. It was 
not strange that many Protestants should prefer a 
Catholic colony to the intolerance of Massachusetts 
toward all who were not Puritans or of Virginia to- 
ward dissenters from the Church of England. 

This was the year in which Charles I. was be- 
headed. The power of Parliament became supreme. 
In 165 1 commissioners, among whom was Clayborne, 
were appointed to take control of the colonies on the 
Chesapeake. On their arrival in Maryland Stone, 
the deputy of Lord Baltimore, was deposed from 
office. By a compromise he was afterward permit- 
ted to resume the government, and on the dissolution 
of the Long Parliament in 1653, he proclaimed that 
Clayborne and his associates had been guilty of a 
rebellious interference. Clayborne, on hearing of this 
proclamation, raised a force in Virginia, and entering 
Maryland, once more deposed Stone and appointed 
commissioners to rule in his stead. 

By this time the Protestant party in Maryland had 



MARYLAND. i8i 

reached large proportions. An assembly of this sect 
was convened at Patuxent in 1654. The supremacy 
of Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, was recog- 
nized in disregard of the rights of Lord Baltimore. 
Then, seem.ing to forget the leniency and equality 
with which they had been treated by the Catholics, 
they passed an act disfranchising the members of 
that sect. 

This was too much to be borne and civil strife en- 
sued. Stone, contending that he was still the right- 
ful ruler, organized a force and marched against the 
opposing faction. A battle was fought near Annap- 
olis, and the Catholics suffered defeat with the loss 
of fifty men in killed and wounded. Their leader 
was taken prisoner, but the friendship of some of the 
insurgents saved his life. Three others of the Cath- 
olic prisoners, however, were not so fortunate. They 
were tried and executed. 

In 1656 Lord Baltimore sent Josiah Fendall as 
governor of his province, and for two years the Cath- 
olics governed at St. Mary's and the Protestants at 
Leonardstown. Then an arrangement was made 
by which Fendall was recognized as governor and 
the recent acts of the Protestant assemblies as valid. 
So peace was effected. 

After the death of Cromwell, the assembly in 1660 
declared the province independent of Lord Balti- 
more and the government was assumed by the house 
of burgesses. Charles II. restored the territory to 
Lord Baltimore, and Philip Calvert was sent as dep- 
uty-governor. 

In 1675 Lord Baltimore died and his son Charles 
succeeded to the title. His proprietorship was as just 
and liberal as his father's had been. 

Some years later, when the news reached Maryland 
that James II. had lost his throne, the deputy of Lord 
Baltimore hesitated to recognize the new sovereigns 



i82 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

William and Mary. This hesitation gave rise to a re- 
port that the Catholics were about to combine with 
the Indians in a massacre of the Protestants. Untrue 
as this rumor was, the Protestants assumed arms and 
in 1689 forced the Catholics to give up the govern- 
ment. For two years the Protestants ruled the prov- 
ince through a body known as the Convention of As- 
sociates. 

In 1691 William III. took away Lord Baltimore's 
charter and made the colony a royal province. The 
old freedom was destroyed and the Episcopal Church 
established bylaw. But in 17 15 Queen Anne restored 
Maryland to the heir of Lord Baltimore, and under the 
proprietorship of the Calverts it remained till the 
Revolution. 



NORTH CAROLINA, 183 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

NORTH CAROLINA. 

Settlements on the Chowan and Cape Fear rivers — A charter 
granted to Lord Clarendon and others — The Albemarle Coun- 
ty Colony — The Clarendon County Colony — The " Funda- 
mental Constitutions " of Locke and Shaftesbury — Clarendon 
County is deserted — Popular revolt — Seth Sothel — His tyr- 
anny — He is driven out — Indian outbreak — The Tuscaroras 
vanquished — They march north and make the sixth nation in 
the New York confederacy — Separation of North and South 
Carolina — They become royal provinces. 

The first attempts to found a colony within the lim- 
its of North Carolina were made by Sir Walter Ra- 
leigh, from 1585 to 1587. After his unsuccessful en- 
deavors the country remained uninhabited save by the 
Indians for many years. 

The first actual settlement was made in or about 
1650 by a colony of Virginians near the mouth of the 
Chowan River. In 1661 a colony of Puritans entered 
the Cape Fear River and established themselves on 
Oldtown Creek. 

In 1630 King Charles I. had made an extensive grant 
of territory that included North Carolina to Sir Rob- 
ert Heath, but no colony being founded under this 
patent, it was finally revoked. In 1663 Charles II. 
gave a charter to Lord Clarendon and seven other 
noblemen, which covered the country from the St. 
John's River in Florida to the thirty-sixth parallel of 
latitude. 

In the same year the settlers on the Chowan organ- 
ized a government, chose William Drummond as gov- 



1 84" HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ernor, and called themselves the Albemarle County 
Colony. It was soon discovered that their settlement 
was beyond the limits of the Clarendon grant, which 
was therefore extended in 1665 half a degree further 
north, to the present southern boundary of Virginia, 
and westward to the Pacific. 

This year also marks the breaking up of the Puritan 
colony on the Cape Fear by the Indians. But a com- 
pany of planters from Barbadoes immediately took 
their place, purchased the territory from the savages, 
elected Sir John Yeamans as their governor, and called 
themselves the Clarendon County Colony. The pro- 
prietors looked with favor on this settlement and it 
started on what seemed a prosperous career. 

Now the proprietors of Carolina, anticipating a 
great growth of their colonies, determined to have a 
government as nearly perfect as possible. They as- 
signed the preparation of the plan to Sir Ashley 
Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury, a distinguished states- 
man. He called to his aid the famous philosopher, 
John Locke, who for several months worked away 
at his scheme. The " Fundamental Constitution " 
which he produced in 1669 was received with appro- 
bation by the proprietors and adopted. This *'grand 
model" provided that political rights should depend 
on hereditary wealth, and orders of nobility were 
created — earls and barons. To us of to-day it seems 
ridiculous that sane men should expect to introduce 
such a feudal system among the pioneers of the new 
settlements; but it took twenty-four years to convince 
the proprietors of this fact. 

The Albemarle County Colony prospered but the 
southern colony did not. The soil was poor and the 
traffic in staves and furs became exhausted. A colony 
had been established in 1670 at the mouth of the 
Ashley River, in South Carolina, and thither in the 
next year Governor Yeamans was transferred. Be- 



NORTH CAROLINA, 185 

fore 1690 Clarendon County was deserted by Euro- 
peans. 

The attempt of the proprietors to force Locke's sys- 
tem of government on the Albemarle Colony caused 
discontent. A tax of a penny a pound was levied on 
tobacco. The governor, Miller, was not a man to 
conciliate the settlers. In 1676 a number of emigrants 
came from Virginia, where they had fought for liberty 
in Bacon's rebellion. Their arrival added to the dis- 
contented. 

An attempt to enforce the revenue laws on a mer- 
chant vessel from Boston gave opportunity for an 
expression of their grievances. The ship, on her fail- 
ure to pay duty, was declared a smuggler. The set- 
tlers organized, imprisoned the governor and several 
members of his council, and established a govern- 
ment for themselves. John Culpepper, who had 
headed the revolt, was chosen governor, other officials 
were elected, and the popular government was estab- 
lished. 

This happened in 1678. The next year Miller and 
his comrades escaped from prison and went to Eng- 
land, where the matter was officially taken in hand. 
Culpepper promptly faced the threatened danger by 
crossing the Atlantic to defend the action of himself 
and his associates. He was seized, tried on a charge 
of high treason, and acquitted, the Earl of Shaftes- 
bury himself speaking in his defense. 

Lord Clarendon, however, was disgusted at the es- 
cape of Culpepper and sold his share in the propri- 
etorship of the colony to one Seth Sothel, whose name 
is tarnished with various iniquities. This man was 
sent out as governor in 1680, but was captured by 
pirates and detained for three years. 

In 1683 he arrived in Carolina and commenced a 
career marked by such avarice and despotism as no 
other governor of an American province ever ex- 



1 86 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

hibited. For five or six years he defrauded the pro- 
prietors and oppressed the colonists. Then the peo- 
ple rose in revolt and threw off this burden, Sothel 
reauested to be tried by the colonial assembly, ex- 
pecting more mercy even from them than from the 
proprietors. He probably made a wise choice for 
himself, for he escaped with a sentence of disfran- 
chisement and a year's exile. 

For some years now the colony prospered under 
excellent governors. Locke's ''grand model" had 
proved a failure and in 1693 ceased to be the author- 
ity in the government. Settlers came from other 
colonies and from the Old World — from Virginia, 
Maryland, and Delaware, from France, Germany, and 
Switzerland. 

The Indians who had occupied North Carolina 
were now reduced in numbers by disease and liquor. 
Their lands were in possession of Europeans. Only 
two tribes retained much power — the Tuscaroras 
and Corees. But hatred of the white man slumbered 
within their breasts; it finally broke into flame. 

In 171 1 Lawson, the surveyor-general of North 
Carolina, started up the Neuse River to explore the 
country. The Indians took him prisoner and burned 
him to death. Then followed an attack on the out- 
lying settlers, in which 130 persons perished. The 
authorities of the colony were prevented from re- 
venging these atrocities by civil disputes, but the ad- 
joining colonies came to the assistance of North 
Carolina. 

The efforts of Virginia were unsuccessful. Colonel 
Barnwell came to South Carolina with a force of 
militia and friendly Indians. He drove the enemy 
into their fort in Craven County, which, however, he 
was unable to capture. A treaty of peace was now 
made by which the war seemed to be ended. 

But Barnwell's men, on their way home, broke the 



NORTH CAROLINA. 187 

treaty by destroying an Indian village, and the strife 
recommenced. It continued with varying success for 
some time. At last Colonel Moore brought a force of 
colonists and Indians from South Carolina and drove 
the Tuscaroras into their chief fort in Greene County. 
For a long while this was besieged in vain, but finally 
it was taken by storm in March, 17 13. Eight hun- 
dred warriors were captured. The power of the Tus- 
caroras was broken. Some desired peace and were 
allowed to settle in a single community. The others, 
having no further hope, determined to leave their 
hunting-grounds forever. In the summer they marched 
northward till they reached the upper part of New 
York, where they made the sixth nation in the fa- 
mous confederacy of Indians. 

In 1729 North and South Carolina were separated 
at the Cape Fear River, and coming under the au- 
thority of the king, received separate royal governors. 
Hitherto they had been under a common govern- 
ment, though for some time previously each had pos- 
sessed an assembly of its own. 

The people of North Carolina were rude but in- 
dependent. They paid little attention to religious 
disputes, and in 1703 they could boast not a single 
minister in the province. But as the colony grew in 
numbers and wealth it grew also in cultivation. The 
people, however, never lost their fearless and patriotic 
nature nor their hatred of tyranny. 



1 88 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

SOUTH CAROLINA. 

Settlement on the Ashley River — A popular form of government — 
Slavery introduced — Growth of the colony — Charleston found- 
ed — Trouble with the Indians — Immigrants from France and 
elsewhere — Governor Colleton driven out — Seth Sothel takes 
the reins of government — His power overthrown — Locke's 
constitution abandoned — Queen Anne's War — The unsuccess- 
ful invasion of Florida — Another and successful expedition — 
The French and Spaniards defeated in their attack on Charles- 
ton — Episcopalianism established — Trouble with the Yamas- 
see Indians — Internal dissension — South Carolina a royal 
province. 

In the early part of 1670 a company was sent out 
by the proprietors to colonize South Carolina. They 
chose the mouth of the Ashley River as the site of 
their settlement and then laid the foundations of Old 
Charleston, hardly a trace of which remains to-day. 

William Sayle was their governor. Instead of 
organizing a government on the plan of Locke's 
grand model, they brought common sense to their 
aid. The governor presided over a council of ten, 
half of whom were elected by the colonists and the 
other half appointed by the proprietors. Twenty 
representatives, elected by the people, constituted a 
popular assembly. 

Governor Sayle died in 167 1, and after a few 
months, during which Joseph West performed the 
duties of the office. Sir John Yeamans, who had been 
governor of the northern colony, was appointed to 
fill his place. The new magistrate had been in Bar- 
badoes at the time of his appointment. When he 



SOUTH CAROLINA. 189 

came to South Carolina he brought with him a cargo 
of African slaves. The Englishmen had borne with 
difficulty the mtense heat of the sun in cultivating 
their land. The negroes were well able to stand it. 
So slavery was deliberately adopted, and therein 
South Carolina differed from all the other colonies 
into which slavery had been introduced by those who 
were engaged in the slave-trade. In two years this 
institution was firmly established, and soon the ne- 
groes were twice as numerous as the whites. 

The colony grew apace. One hundred and fifty 
acres of land were offered to any one who would im- 
migrate or import a negro into South Carolina. The 
Indians were few and not to be feared. Several 
ships were sent by the proprietors to New York, 
where they were filled with the Dutch who had be- 
come dissatisfied with the English rule. They were 
brought to South Carolina and founded Jamestown. 
Other emigrants from Holland joined their brethren. 
Charles II. also collected a colony of Protestants in 
southern Europe and sent them over to introduce the 
silk-worm and grape-culture. In 1680 a more judi- 
cious site than had been chosen for the first colony 
was selected and the present city of Charleston was 
founded. 

A conflict arose with the Indians, occasioned by 
the shooting of some wandering Nestoes by the set- 
tlers. The authorities seemed inclined to punish the 
offenders, but the colonists and Indians were both 
eager to fight. Scattered acts of hostility occurred 
for a year, the colonists being incited largely by the 
bounty offered for Indian prisoners. The captured 
warriors were sold as slaves for the West Indies. 
Finally peace was established and commissioners ap- 
pointed to settle disputes. 

England and Ireland furnished settlers to the col- 
ony. A number of Scotch Presbyterians established 



190 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 

themselves at Port Royal in 1684, but two years later 
were driven away by Spanish soldiers from St. 
Augustine. 

France also contributed many emigrants. In 1685 
Louis XIV. revoked the Edict of Nantes, which 
eighty-seven years before had been issued guarantee- 
ing freedom in the exercise of their religion to the 
Huguenots. The result of this revocation was the 
emigration of half a million of the worthiest inhabit- 
ants of France. Many of them came to America, and 
South Carolina received a large proportion. That 
province promised them protection and citizenship, 
but it was some years before these promises were 
completely fulfilled. 

An attempt in 1686 by the governor, Colleton, to 
establish Locke's system of government irritated the 
people. They refused the payment of rents. Colle- 
ton only made matters worse by calling out the 
militia and declaring the province under martial law 
on the pretense of danger from the Spanish and In- 
dians. James II. was soon deposed in England, and 
William and Mary were called to the throne. In 
South Carolina the popular assembly w^as convened, 
and in 1690 Colleton was banished from the province. 

Seth Sothel had recently been similarly treated in 
North Carolina. He now came to the southern prov- 
ince and assumed its government. For a while he 
persuaded the people to submit to his authority, but 
the proprietors refused to recognize his acts, and he 
soon made himself obnoxious to the colonists. In 
two years he was overthrown. During this time, 
however, the first act of enfranchisement was adopted 
in favor of the Huguenots. 

Under the next governor another attempt was made 
to force Locke's constitution on the province. But 
the people would none of it. Finally the proprietors, 
recognizing the uselessness of further endeavors in 



SOUTH CAROLINA, i^j 

this direction, in 1693 voted the abandonment of the 
grand model, and a simple charter government was 
supplied to the colony at its request. 

The first governor under the new system was 
Thomas Smith. He was soon succeeded by a Qua- 
ker, John Archdale, under whose wise administration 
everything prospered. An act was passed enfran- 
chising all Christians except the Catholics, and this 
exception was made against the wish of the governor. 

Queen Anne's War now broke out, known in Eu- 
rope as the War of the Spanish Succession. France 
and Spain were leagued against the English. The 
result of the conflict between the northern colonies 
and the French we have narrated in the history of 
Massachusetts. James Moore was governor of South 
Carolina at this time. The assembly voted to invade 
the Spanish settlements in Florida by land and water 
and to raise a force of 1,200 men. 

The expedition by land, under the command of 
Colonel Daniel, and the fleet, commanded by the 
governor, set out in the fall of 1702. The vessels 
blockaded the St. John's River, while Daniel attacked 
St. Augustine. The Spaniards were driven into their 
castle, which it was found impossible to capture with- 
out cannon, and to procure these Daniel departed 
for Jamaica. During his absence two Spanish war 
vessels appeared, and Governor Moore found himself 
hemmed in. He abandoned his ships, gathered his 
soldiers, and retreated to Carolina. Daniel, on his re- 
turn, was nearly captured, but discovered his danger 
in time to escape. Moore was accused of cowardice, 
but no official action was taken against him. To 
meet the expenses of this campaign South Carolina 
was obliged to issue bills of credit to the amount of 
^^6,000. 

Moore conducted another expedition in the latter 
part of 1705, which proved more successful. With 



1 92 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 

fifty volunteers and i,ooo friendly Indians he marched 
into the Indian territory to the southwest of Savan- 
nah. The fortified town of Ayavalla was taken, with 
200 prisoners, who were made slaves. Another suc- 
cessful battle with the Spaniards and Indians fol- 
lowed. Five towns were captured, and the English 
succeeded in reaching the Gulf of Mexico and cut- 
ting off communication between the Spanish in Flori- 
daand the French in Louisiana. 

In 1706 a French and Spanish squadron was sent 
from Havana to reduce Charleston. Governor John- 
son and Colonel Rhett led the volunteers and pre- 
pared so effectually for defense that the fleet achieved 
nothing but disaster. After several repulses 800 
Frenchmen succeeded in landing, only to be defeated 
with a loss of 300 in killed and captured. This 
practically ended the war so far as South Carolina 
was concerned, though in Europe the conflict was 
not finished till the treaty of Utrecht was signed, in 

It was during this war that Episcopalianism be- 
came the established church of the province. The 
assembly, which at one time had a majority of the 
high church party, even went so far as to disfran- 
chise all dissenters. The proprietors refused to re- 
verse their action, but Parliament declared the law 
invalid and the charter forfeited. The assembly soon 
revoked its act of disfranchisement, though the 
Church of England remained the church of South 
Carolina. 

The Yamassee Indians in 1715 commenced with 
treachery an attack on the outlying settlements. The 
inhabitants of Port Royal had barely time to escape 
to Charleston, and serious danger threatened even 
that capital; but Governor Craven drove back the 
savages and vanquished them in a decisive battle. 
The Yamassees departed to Florida, where they were 
received as allies by the Spaniards. 



SOUTH CAROLINA. ip3 

The refusal of the proprietors to help bear the ex- 
penses of the war with the Yamassees occasioned 
much discontent. In 17 19 every delegate to the as- 
sembly was elected from the popular party, and 
James Moore was chosen as governor. The governor 
at that time was Johnson, and he tried to prevent 
Moore's inauguration. The militia, however, col- 
lected, public enthusiasm was aroused, and the man 
chosen by the people was inaugurated. An agent 
was sent to England to represent the cause of the 
colonists, and the king sustained their action. 

A final change was made in the government of 
South Carolina in 1729, when the king purchased, for 
^22,500, the rights of seven out of the eight propri- 
etors to the soil and jurisdiction. The eighth pro- 
prietor. Lord Carteret, would surrender nothing but 
the latter. North and South Carolina were now sep- 
arated and each received a royal governor. 



194 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

GEORGIA. 

Oglethorpe — His philanthropic aims — A charter granted — Savan- 
nah founded — Wesley and Whitfield — Fortifications built — 
King George's War — Expedition against St. Augustine — The 
Spaniards organize an expedition — It ends disastrously — 
Slavery — Slow advance of the colony — It becomes a royal 
province — Prosperity dawns. 

Georgia was the last of the thirteen colonies to be 
founded. The one hundred and twenty-sixth year 
after the establishment of Jamestown, the first En- 
glish colony, saw the commencement of the latest. 

James Oglethorpe was the leader in thiG enter- 
prise; philanthropic wishes were his motives. The 
English laws permitting imprisonment for debt af- 
fected with especial harshness those who formed the 
poorer classes. To find a refuge for these afflicted 
ones and for persecuted Protestants in any quarter 
of the world were the aims of Oglethorpe. He sought 
from the king a charter for foundmg a colony in 
America. His petition was favorably answered. 
George II., in honor of whom the province was 
named, in 1732 granted to a corporation for twenty- 
one years the territory between the Savannah and 
Altamaha rivers and westward from their head-waters 
to the Pacific. 

Oglethorpe himself sailed with his first colony in 
1733, and founded the city of Savannah. Presents 
were exchanged with the Indians and friendly rela- 
tions firmly established. Immigration was encour- 



GEORGIA. 195 

aged, and Swiss peasants and Scotchmen, German 
Protestants and Moravians helped to swell the num- 
ber of the colonists. The importation of rum was 
forbidden, trade with the Indians was carefully regu- 
lated, and slavery was prohibited as likely to interfere 
with the laborers for whom the colony had been 
founded. 

Oglethorpe made a visit to England, taking with 
him his friend Tomo-chichi, chief of the Yamacraws. 
He returned in 1736 with 300 colonists. Among these 
were John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, and his 
brother Charles. John Wesley entertained high ex- 
pectations of converting the Indians and improving 
the settlers, but he found that the mixed nationalities 
of Georgia were not easily led in the way he desired, 
and he returned within two years. In 1738 George 
Whitfield arrived, and his eloquence had greater suc- 
cess. He found his grave at last in New England, 

European troubles seemed to threaten that England 
and Spain might soon be at war. In anticipation of 
such an event Oglethorpe began preparations to de- 
fend his province, Spain claimed all of Georgia as 
part of her domain, but the charter of that colony ex- 
tended to the Altamaha and Oglethorpe had by treaty 
with the Indians acquired the territory as far south as 
the St. Mary's. In 1736 he ascended the Savannah 
River and built a fort at Augusta. Fort Darien, on 
the Altamaha, and Fort William, at the mouth of the 
St. Mary's, were also built. The bold governor even 
went so far south as the St. John's, and on Amelia 
Island, at the mouth of that river, constructed Fort St. 
George. The St. John's was thereafter claimed as the 
southern boundary of Georgia. Oglethorpe now vis- 
ited England, received a commission as brigadier- 
general for his own province and South Carolina, and 
returned to Savannah with 600 soldiers. 

These preparations were not useless. A conflict 



196 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

broke out in Europe which is known in our history as 
King George's War. In October, 1739, England de- 
clared war against Spain. At the commencement of 
the following year Oglethorpe led a force into Florida 
and captured two fortified towns. Then he returned 
and induced South Carolina to support his intended 
•attack on St. Augustine. 

With 1,000 men, besides Indian allies, he proceed- 
ed against that town. It was strongly fortified 
and ably defended. The Spaniards managed to pro- 
cure supplies, and by a sally scored a slight success 
against the English. In Oglethorpe's camp sickness 
prevailed, extending even to the leader. The Caro- 
lina troops were discouraged and marched homeward. 
The English vessels departed. Nothing was left for 
Oglethorpe, brave and persistent though he was, but 
to abandon the siege, which had lasted five weeks, 
and to withdraw into Georgia. 

It was now the turn of the Spaniards to carry the 
war into the enemy's country. They determined to 
drive the English beyond the Savannah. Thirty-six 
vessels were collected and dispatched from St. Au- 
gustine with 3,000 troops in June, 1742. The fleet 
attacked Fort William, but Oglethorpe, by a brill- 
iant exploit, re-enforced its garrison and then fell 
back to Frederica, on the northern end of St. Simon's 
Island, opposite the mouth of the Altamaha. The 
Spaniards followed. 

Oglethorpe had but 800 men and some friendly In- 
dians. To cope successfully with the Spaniards he 
was obliged to resort to stratagem. He wrote a let- 
ter, as if to a spy, to a Frenchman v/ho had deserted 
to the Spaniards. The letter stated that two British 
fleets would arrive shortly m America, one to help 
Oglethorpe and the other to attack St. Augustine. 
If the Spaniards did not move at once on Frederica 
their defeat would be assured. The letter fell into 



GEORGIA. 



J97 



the hands of the Spanish commander, as was of 
course intended. The ruse was suspected, but on 
the whole it was deemed best to make an immediate 
attack on the English. 

The road from the southern part of the island to 
Frederica, over which the Spaniards must pass, lay 
at one place between a dense forest and a swamp. 
Here Oglethorpe ambushed his men and waited. The 
advance guard of the Spaniards was driven back in 
confusion. The main body pressed up and met with 
no better fate. They were obliged to retreat at last 
with the loss of 200 men, and the scene of this sangui- 
nary engagement became known as Bloody Marsh. 

The Spaniards soon embarked for Florida, attempt- 
ing again on their homeward journey, but without 
success, the reduction of Fort William. The Spanish 
commander who had brought failure on the expedi- 
tion w^as court-martialed and dismissed from the 
service. Thus ended, so far-as Georgia was con- 
cerned, King George's War. 

In 1743 Oglethocpe returned to England for good. 
The colony had been firmly established and success- 
fully defended, but everything did not go with desir- 
able smoothness. Neither agriculture nor commerce 
prospered. The lands of the colonists were not held 
in absolute ownership. Moreover, the people began to 
desire the introduction of slaves. Negroes were hired 
for longer and longer periods, and at last for a hun- 
dred years, which amounted to complete purchase. 
Finally slaves were brought direct from Africa, and 
this institution became firmly established. 

The proprietary laws had grown unpopular, the 
people were shiftless and lazy, and much money had 
been spent on the colony without adequate return. 
In 1752 there were but 1,700 whites and 400 blacks in 
the province. A change was seen to be necessary. In 
the year just mentioned, therefore, the proprietors sur- 



198 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

rendered their charter to the king and Georgia be- 
came a royal province. 

Captain John Reynolds, the first royal governor, 
reached his province in 1754, and he labored success- 
fully in the improvement of its affairs. In the course 
of two years and a half the population had increased 
to 6,000. 

During the French and Indian War Governor Ellis, 
by a treaty of peace with the Creek confederacy of 
Indians, put a barrier between Georgia and the hostile 
nations beyond that saved the province from all 
harm. The southern boundary of Georgia was set- 
tled at the close of this war. In 1758 the Episcopal 
Church was established in the province. Slow as its 
progress had been in the early part of its history, 
Georgia was a prosperous and thriving colony when 
the Revolution broke out. 



THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 199 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR CAUSES AND COM- 
MENCEMENT. 

The independent spirit of the settlers — The colonies are ignorant 
and jealous of each other — Importance of the French and 
Indian War — Causes — Conflicting territorial claims — The 
frontier settlements of France and England — Antipathies be- 
tween the two races — The Ohio valley — The Ohio Company 
formed — Advances of the French and English — The posi- 
tion of the Indians — Washington's mission — Fort Duquesne 
built — Washington advances with troops — Surrenders Fort 
Necessity — A Colonial Congress at Albany — Franklin's plan 
of union fails of adoption. 

We have now traced the steps by which the thirteen 
American colonies were founded and firmly estab- 
lished. Their history shows very plainly why they 
possessed the independent spirit which manifested it- 
self from time to time against the proprietors and 
against any one who attempted to interfere with their 
liberties as they conceived them. The colonies were 
largely peopled by those who had suffered in some 
shape at home from bigotry in religion, from des- 
potism in the government, or from persecution in 
society. Their pioneer life, with its struggles to gain 
subsistence from the soil, shelter from the elements, 
and safety from the savages, strengthened wonder- 
fully the hardy fibers of their nature and made them 
impatient of any interference with the enjoyment of 
their hard-won freedom. 

The final outcome of this love for liberty was the 
Revolution. But the colonies, some of them widely 



200 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

separated, founded by people of se^^eral races, of dif- 
ferent political and religious opinions, and of diverse 
natures, were full of prejudice and jealousy toward 
each other. Intercourse and commercial relations 
had indeed arisen between them, and combinations 
between two or three had sometimes been necessary 
for mutual benefit. But the Revolution would h^irdly 
have taken place when it did, or would have had a 
different history, had not the colonies been previous- 
ly brought to appreciate their common needs and 
the necessity of co-operation. Because they acquired 
this knowledge and more fraternal feelings in the 
French and Indian War is one reason why this con- 
flict occupies so important a place in our history. 

It is important also because it practically deter- 
mined the question whether France or England should 
achieve supremacy in North America. The chief 
cause of the struggle was the conflicting claims of 
these two nations as to territorial rights. England 
claimed, by virtue of the discoveries of the Cabots, 
not only the territory occupied by her colonies, but 
th^ whole country beyond them as far west as the 
Pacific. These colonies covered but a comparatively 
narrow strip along the Atlantic coast, and only a few 
pioneers had penetrated deeply inland. 

During the seventeenth century, the most active 
period of English colonization, France had been ex- 
tending her domain on the St. Lawrence further 
and further to the west and south. We have nar- 
rated in the history of French explorations how 
Raymbault in 1641 pushed westward to Lake Su- 
perior, how Joliet and Marquette in 1673 passed 
down the W^isconsin River and a long distance 
further on the Mississippi, and how La Salle, the 
greatest of all, in 1682 descended the Illinois and the 
Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. Following up 
these explorations, France by 16S8 had posts at 



THE FREiVCH AATD EVDIAiY WAR. 201 

Frontenac, Niagara, the Straits of Mackinaw, and on 
the Illinois, and before the outbreak of the French 
and Indian War settlements had been made at De- 
troit, on the Mississippi at the site of Natchez, on the 
Gulf of Mexico at the head of Biloxi Bay, and at in- 
termediate points. On these explorations and set- 
tlements France based her claim to the interior of 
the continent. England at this time possessed on 
the extreme frontier only a small fort at Oswego, on 
Lake Ontario, and a few scattered settlements in 
West Virginia. To occupy the Ohio valley was now 
the aim of the French, for thereby they expected to 
confine the English to the eastern side of the Alle- 
ghanies and to keep the remainder of the continent 
for France and Catholicism. 

Another cause of the French and Indian War exist- 
ed in the mutual antipathies of the French and En- 
glish. Neighbors by location, their different races, 
languages, and tendencies had made them enemies. 
Long and bitter wars had occurred between France 
and England. The one was the champion of Cathol- 
icism and the other of Protestantism in Europe. In 
America the French provinces looked with envy on 
the English colonies, peopled by twenty times the 
number of their own inhabitants. England was jeal- 
ous of the successful fur-trade which the French en- 
joyed with the Indians. When the conflict came, these 
feelings embittered the struggle on both sides. 

The immediate cause of the war was the attempt 
made by both nations at about the same time to se- 
cure possession of the Ohio valley. Trouble com- 
menced in 1749, five years before the actual outbreak 
of hostilities. Virginia, claiming under her old char- 
ters the territory from her western boundaries to Lake 
Erie, was disturbed by the competition of French 
with English traders who visited the Indians on the 
upper tributaries of the Ohio River. A number of 



202 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Virginians, among whom were Dinwiddie, the gov- 
ernor, and Robert Lee, the president of the council, 
formed themselves into the Ohio Company to prevent 
this interference. The king, George II., granted this 
body, in 1749, 500,000 acres of land, the location to be 
at once selected on the northern bank of the Ohio or 
between the Monongahela and the Kanawha rivers. 
The lands were to be free of rent for ten years, but a 
colony of 100 families must be established within 
seven years. 

This same year a French company of 300 men ex- 
plored the Ohio valley as far as the Miami River, ex- 
pelled the English traders, and warned the governor 
of Pennsylvania not to intrude further on French ter- 
ritory. The next year the Ohio Company sent out a 
party under Christopher Gist, who passed down the 
Ohio from Logstown, at Beaver Creek, in Pennsyl- 
vania, to the site of Louisville. 

The French now advanced from their headquarters 
at Erie, then called Presque Isle, and built Fort Le 
Bceuf, on French Creek, which empties into the Alle- 
ghany. At the junction of the streams they built Fort 
Venango. They then attacked a British post on the 
Miami and took the garrison to Canada as prisoners. 
The king of the Miami confederacy was murdered by 
the Indian allies of the French. Gist and a party of 
Englishmen about this time explored the country 
south of the Ohio, and in 1753 a small English colony 
was planted. 

The outlook was not favorable to peace. So thought 
the Indian tribes, who held councils and inclined to 
the English side. The murder of the Miami warrior 
increased their ill-feeling toward the French. News 
came in 1753 that Duquesne, governor of Canada, 
had sent 1,200 men to descend the Alleghany and 
plant colonies. Tanacharisson, called the Half-King, 
chief of the confederacy of the Delawares, Shawnees, 



THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR, 203 

Miamis, and Min^s^oes, was sent to remonstrate. He 
was received with contempt and returned a bitter 
enemy of the French. It was now that Benjamin 
Franklin met the chiefs of many Indian tribes and 
made a treaty of alliance between them and the En- 
glish. 

We now approach more nearly to the beginning of 
the conflict. Governor Dinwiddie drew up a paper 
explaining the English claims to the disputed territo- 
ry and warning the French not to encroach thereon. 
To carry this document to Erie, where General St. 
Pierre, commander of the French forces, was sta- 
tioned, was a (difficult and dangerous undertaking. 
The performance of it was intrusted to a young sur- 
veyor who was destined to take a leading part in this 
war and in the annals of his country. A wise choice 
was made in selecting George Washington, 

The envoy, in company with four comrades in ad- 
dition to an interpreter and Christopher Gist, set out 
on October 31, 1753. He reached the site of Pittsburg, 
and saw at once that it was the spot for a strong fort. 
At Logstown he renewed pledges with a council 
of Indians, and then pursued his way to Venango. 
Thence he proceeded to Fort Le Boeuf, where he 
found St. Pierre. The French general received him 
with courtesy but would yield no part of his nation's 
claim. He would obey his instructions to expel every 
Englishman from the Ohio valley. A reply was re- 
turned to Dinwiddie maintaining the French rights 
and stating that they would be secured by force if 
necessary. 

Washington returned to Venango, and thence alone 
with Gist he struck boldly through the wilderness. 
Through countless dangers and difficulties he at last 
reached Virginia and delivered to Dinwiddie the dis- 
patch of St. Pierre. 

Meanwhile the Ohio Company had sent out a small 



204 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

body of men, under the command of Trent, to build 
a fort at the source of the Ohio. It was about 
the middle of March, 1754, when they arrived at their 
destination and constructed a stockade at the site of 
Pittsburg, where the Alleghany and Monongahela 
rivers unite to form the Ohio. The French, how- 
ever, had been making preparations, even v/hile Wash- 
ington was among them, to occupy the same spot, 
which both parties had seen to be the key to the situ- 
ation. They descended the river in force; Trent 
could not hope to oppose them; re-enforcements 
could not be procured in time to be of service. On 
April 17th he surrendered and withdrew from the 
country. The French at once built on the spot Fort 
Duquesne, around which so much of the interest of 
this war was to center. 

A number of recruits had already been raised to 
serve under Washington as lieutenant-colonel. In 
the spring of 1754 they set out from Will's Creek, 
the furthest tributary of consequence on the north 
of the Potomac. The issue between the French and 
English was about to be tried by force of arms. Ne- 
gotiation had failed and war was inevitable. 

Washington pushed forward with an advance- 
guard. In the latter part of May he reached Great 
Meadows, where he threw up an intrenchment named 
Fort Necessity. Learning that the French had sent 
a force to attack him, he determined to strike the first 
blow himself. The French were too alert to be sur- 
prised, but they suffered defeat in this first engage- 
ment of the war, fought on May 28, 1754. In the 
short but decisive conflict they lost ten men, includ- 
ing their leader, killed, and twenty-one prisoners. 

The English waited for re-enforcements. A few 
volunteers from South Carolina arrived, but Wash- 
ington's forces numbered hardly 400 when the fort 
was surrounded, on July 3d, by De Villiers, in com- 



THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 



205 



mand of 600 French in addition to their Indian al- 
lies. The enemy stationed themselves on a rise of 
ground near the fort, whence they poured a deadly 
fire within the stockade. The English fought man- 
fully but against great odds. Thirty men were killed. 
Finally De Villiers proposed a truce. Washington 
saw the hopelessness of further fighting, and being 
offered favorable terms of surrender, gave up the fort 
to the French. On July 4th the English marched 
out, retaining their arms, and left the French in com- 
plete possession of the Ohio valley. 

In the meantime a congress of the colonies had 
been convened at Albany, to renew the league with 
the confederacy of the Six Nations and to adopt 
some plan of united action against the French. The 
first object was accomplished, but the other met with 
failure. On July loth Benjamin Franklin laid be- 
fore his associates a plan of union. A congress com- 
posed of delegates from the various colonies was to 
assemble annually at Philadelphia. The chief execu- 
tive was to be a governor-general appointed by the 
king, and to him was intrusted a power of veto on 
acts of the congress. 

This plan was not favorably received by the col- 
onies. Some rejected it and others adopted it in a 
half-hearted way. They considered that too much 
power was given to the king's representative. In 
England the scheme met with no better reception. 
There it was thought that the colonies would acquire 
too much freedom. So Franklin's constitution was 
never adopted. 



2o6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR EVENTS OF 1755. 

France and England prepare for war — General Braddock — Cam- 
paign plans — Braddock's expedition against Fort Duquesne — 
He disregards advice — Is defeated and mortally wounded — 
Successful expedition to Acadia — Cruel expulsion of the 
French peasantry — Shirley's advance toward Fort Niagara — 
He withdraws — Johnson and Dieskau meet at Lake George — 
The latter is defeated and mortally wounded — Review of the 
year. 

England and France had not yet declared war, but 
each appreciated the importance of the struggle in 
America, and while they assured each other that they 
desired peace, aid was being given to their respective 
colonies. Louis XV., king of France, sent 3,000 sol- 
diers to Canada, and the English government dis- 
patched General Edward Braddock with two regi- 
ments of regulars. 

Braddock arrived in the Chesapeake in the early 
part of 1755. He met the governors of the colonies 
at Alexandria in April and arranged plans for imme- 
diate execution. As war had not been declared, it 
was resolved, that operations should be confined 
within the territory claimed by England. Braddock 
himself was to advance against Fort Duquesne; John- 
son, of New York, was to capture Crown Point; 
Shirley, of Massachusetts, was to attack Niagara; and 
Governor Lawrence, of Nova Scotia, was to establish 
England's authority in the region claimed by her in 
that part of the country. 

Braddock set out in this same month of April for 



THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 207 

Will's Creek, the military post on which stream was 
now called Fort Cumberland. The army consisted of 
2,000 veterans of the British army and a few provin- 
cial troops. Braddock's commission contained t ic 
obnoxious clause that colonial colonels and captains 
should have no rank when fighting with the regulars. 
Had it not been for this provision the colonists would 
have been strongly represented. Even Washington 
withdrew from the service, but he patriotically re- 
turned and was made an aid-de-camp of the British 
general, 

Braddock was a self-willed, conceited, and proud 
man, impatient even of advice. Franklin had urged 
him to be cautious, but he had replied that savages 
could not hope to contend with trained veterans. 
When his advance-guard left Fort Cumberland it 
straggled along the narrow road for four miles. 
Washington's experience in savage warfare saw at 
once the advantage which Indians would have in 
attacking such a loose column, and he ventured to 
suggest the danger to Braddock. The arrogant gen- 
eral received the advice with contempt and anger. 

Braddock now chose 1,200 troops for a more rapid 
advance, and left the rest of the army under the com- 
mand of Colonel Dunbar. On the 8th of July the 
forces were on the Monongahela, only twelve miles 
from Fort Duquesne. On the 9th they crossed the 
stream and proceeded along the northern bank, Colo- 
nel Thomas Gates leading the way with 350 men. 
The road was no more than twelve feet wide and 
flanked by rocks, ravines, and underbrush. Suddenly 
firing was heard in advance. 

The French, almost despairing of their power to 
maintain their position, had resolved at least to make 
an effort for safety. Two hundred and thirty French- 
men, under Beaujeu and Dumas, had been pushed 
forward with over 600 Indians. About seven miles 



2o8 ins TOR Y OF THE UNITED ST A TES. 

from the fort they had hardly ambushed themselves 
when the vanguard of the English appeared. The 
battle began at once. 

Confusion followed. The English in advance were 
driven back and their cannon captured. The main 
body of Gage's force were mixed with the men Brad- 
dock sent forward to their aid. The British general 
himself rushed to the front and fought bravely, but in 
vain. The men crowded together and presented a 
tempting target to the savages concealed behind rocks 
and trees. Unaccustomed to this mode of warfare, 
they wasted their fire; soldiers fell on every side; panic 
'seized the survivors. Braddock had five horses shot 
under him, and finally he received a wound in his 
right side. Washington advised retreat, and the 
thirty surviving Virginiaas covered the departure. 
Artillery, provisions, and baggage were left behind. 

The slaughter had been fearful. Out of eighty- 
six officers, twenty-six were killed and thirty-seven 
wounded. Seven hundred and fourteen soldiers were 
dead or bleeding. Washington seemed to have borne 
a charmed life. Two horses were shot under him, and 
four times bullets had torn his clothing. The Indians 
had made particular endeavors to shoot him, but all 
in vain. On the other hand, the French and Indian 
losses were small. Only three officers and thirty men 
were killed and an equal number wounded. 

Braddock died on the fourth day after the battle 
and was buried near Fort Necessity. He seemed to 
realize the mistake he had made when it was too late. 
When the retreating army reached Dunbar's camp 
the panic was not allayed. Dunbar lacked courage 
and ability. He destroyed valuable stores and ar- 
tillery, retreated to Fort Cumberland, and then, al- 
though it was still summer, pleading that the troops 
n'lust be put in winter quarters, departed to Philadel- 
phia. The proud expedition of Braddock and the 



THE FREjYCII AND INDIAN WAR. 209 

first important battle of the war had resulted in de- 
feat and disgrace. 

English arms were more successful in Acadia, but 
their success v/as attended with a deeper disgrace 
than even Braddock's defeat. Nova Scotia had come 
into the possession of England in 17 13, and during 
the half-century following the population had in- 
creased from 3,000 to 16,000. But the great majority 
of the inhabitants were Frenchmen and Catholics. 
The deputy-governor, Lawrence, pretended to fear an 
insurrection, and at the council held by Braddock and 
the colonial governors in Alexandria it was deter- 
mined to overawe the French peasantry. The fleet 
designed to help Lawrence in this task sailed from 
Boston in May, 1755, with 3,000 New England men. 
On its arrival at the Bay of Fundy Colonel Monck- 
ton took command. 

The French had two forts on the isthmus which 
connects Nova Scotia with the main-land. The first 
and most important was named Beau-Sejour, the 
other Gaspereau. The English forces landed, and 
after a vigorous siege cf a few days, on June i6th 
Beau-Sejour capitulated, and its name was changed 
to Fort Cumberland. Gaspereau was taken shortly 
afterward and renamed Monckton. In a few weeks 
the English were masters of the whole situation. 

The French people, however, still remained. How 
to dispose of this element, which the English feared, 
was a problem. Governor Lawrence, Admiral Bos- 
cawen, and the chief justice of the province hit upon 
the plan of driving them out of the province. An 
oath of allegiance was demanded, so worded that no 
conscientious Catholic could take it. Their arms and 
boats were taken away on the charge of treason. Then 
the barbarous work of banishment began. 

The people were driven on board the British ships 
and their lands confiscated. At the town of Grand Pre 



2IO HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

alone 1,900 men, women, and children were forced at 
the point of the bayonet to leave their homes and em- 
bark on these English vessels. Before they sailed 
away they were sickened at the sight of their burning 
village. Then they were carried off, to be scattered 
here and there among the English colonies. Families 
were separated, husbands sought in vain for wives, 
children for parents. The tale of one sad incident in 
these atrocious proceedings has been told by Longfel- 
low in his poem of " Evangeline." 

The third expedition of this year was against the 
French fort on the lower part of the Niagara River. 
It was a weak post and its capture was deemed easy. 
Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, reached the En- 
glish post at Oswego in the latter part of August 
with 2,000 men. The provincial forces were to as- 
semble here and proceed in boats to Fort Niagara. 
Storms, adverse winds, and sickness occasioned one 
delay after another. Finally Shirley declared the 
season to be so late that navigation of the lake would 
be dangerous. It was evident that he had been dis- 
heartened and terrified by the news of Braddock's de- 
feat. On the 24th of October Shirley returned home 
with a large part of his force, and the only advantage 
which had been gained was that a new fort had been 
built at Oswego and garrisoned with 700 men. 

The fourth and last campaign of this year was un- 
dertaken by General William Johnson, to capture 
Crown Point, on Lake Champlain, and to secure that 
region to the English. While waiting for Johnson, 
General Lyman constructed Fort Edward, on the 
Hudson above Albany. There the commanding gen- 
eral joined him in the latter part of August, and the 
army crossed to Lake George. 

While engaged in transferring their stores and pre- 
paring boats, Johnson learned that Dieskau, who com- 
manded at Crown Point, was advancing. The French 



THE FRENCH AND LYDI AN WAR. 211 

and Indians, numbering about 1,400, designed to pass 
around the English and capture Fort Edward. Colo- 
nel Williams, in company with Hendrick and 1,000 
men, was sent to prevent the threatened danger. On 
September 8th the two forces came into contact, and 
the English lost their two leaders, were thrown into 
confusion, and retreated. 

The French followed. The defenses of Johnson's 
camp had been neglected, but on hearing the noise of 
the engagement trees had been felled and cannon 
placed in position. Dieskau came up with his forces, 
but the Indians were afraid of the English guns and 
refused to fight. The French, however, advanced to 
the attack, and for five hours the fiercest battle yet 
known to American history was waged. Johnson was 
wounded and left the field, but his troops fought 
bravely, and finally, making a sally, utterly routed the 
French. 

Dieskau was mortally wounded and nearly all his 
regulars killed. The victory for the English was 
complete, but it cost 216 lives. Johnson was warmly 
praised for this battle, and was made a baronet, though 
its result was due more to the bravery of the provin- 
cial troops than to his efforts. Fort William Henry 
was now built on the site of his camp, Fort Edward 
was strengthened, and the rest of the soldiers returned 
home. The French, in the meantime, had increased 
their garrison at Crown Point and had fortified Ti- 
conderoga. 

The year 1755 had been successful in Acadia and 
n'^rthern New York, but the disastrous defeat of 
Braddock and the failure of the expedition against 
Niagara had more than counterbalanced the advant- 
age gained. Worse than all was the memory of the 
barbarous cruelty shown toward the peaceful Aca- 
dians. 



212 lir^TOKY OF THE UNITED ST A IE S. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR TWO YEARS OF 

DISASTER. 

Washington in the Shenandoah valley — Franklin in Pennsylva- 
nia — Loudoun made commander-in-chief — Abercrombie sec- 
ond in command — War declared between France and Eng- 
land — Montcalm captures Oswego — Armstrong defeats the 
Indians — Loudoun's inaction — He commands an expedition 
against Louisburg — He withdraws — Montcalm captures Fort 
William Henry — Massacre of the garrison. 

In the early part of 1756, Washington, at the head 
of Virginians, drove back the French and Indians in 
the Shenandoah valley, and Franklin, at the head of 
Pennsylvania volunteers, gained some slight successes 
in that province. Governor Shirely had succeeded 
Braddock in command of the English forces, but plans 
only had been framed. 

The English government now appointed the Earl 
of Loudoun commander-in-chief of all the military 
forces in America and General Abercrornbie second in 
rank. The latter sailed in April, 1756, with two bat- 
talions of regulars, and on the 17th of May Great 
Britain declared war with France, to which the French 
soon replied in a similar way. England sent ^115,000 
for the expenses of the war. In July Loudoun ar- 
rived and took command of the colonial army. 

The French, meanwhile, had collected 5,000 men 
under the Marquis of Montcalm, Dieskau's successor in 
the commandof the French forces. Crossing Lake On- 
tario they attacked Oswego, where there were two En- 



THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 



213 



glish fortifications, the old block-house on the western 
bank of the Oswego River and the new Fo'rt Ontario 
on the east. The English were driven out of the latter 
and crossed the river. Here, for two days, 1,600 men 
fought bravely against the superior numbers of the 
I'^rench, but at last they had to surrender. Six ships 
of war, 120 cannon, besides numerous boats and con- 
siderable money, fell into the hands of the French as 
the result of this victory. Montcalm, to gratify the 
Indians, razed the forts to the ground. 

The only success of this year was scored in Penn- 
sylvania. The Del- 
aware Indians had 
violated their trea- 
ty and committed 
numerous atroci- 
ties. Colonel Arm- 
strong, with 300 
volunteers, was 
sent against them. 
On September 8th 
he surprised the 
Indians in their 
town of Kittan- 




A FORTIFIED HOUSE. 



n i n g, some dis- 
tance northeast of Pittsburg, and completely van- 
quished them, with a loss of only sixteen men. 

Lord Loudoun remained at Albany, with a pre- 
tense only of activity. His army was strong, but he 
failed t direct it against the French, who took ad- 
vantage of his laziness and incompetence to strengthen 
Crown Point and Ticonderoga. Thus ended the year 

1756. 

The only campaign laid out for 1757 was the capt- 
ure of the strong fortress of Louisburg, on Cape 
Breton Island. In June Loudoun sailed from New 
York with 6,000 regulars. At Halifax he was joined 



2 14 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

by sixteen men-of-war with 5,000 more troops. Lou- 
doun delayed his advance on one pretext or another 
until news came that the French ships at Louisburg 
outnumbered his own by — one ! This was too much 
for his courage. He sent the fleet to cruise around 
Cape Breton and himself returned with his army to 
New York — a ridiculous failure of a powerful expedi- 
tion. 

Montcalm was a brave and daring general. He 
had meanwhile been leading a force of 6,000 French 
Canadians and 1,700 Indians to Ticonderoga. Fort 
William Henry was his objective point The Iroquois 
had now proved faithless to their English alliance 
and were in league with the French. On August 3d 
Fort William Henry was besieged. Its garrison con- 
sisted of only 500 men, under Colonel Munro, but 
1,700 more were near at hand. General Webb mean- 
while was only fourteen miles distant, at Fort Ed- 
ward, with 4,000 regulars, but instead of coming to 
the support of Munro he advised him to surrender. 

Munro was not the kind of a man to follow such 
cowardly advice. For six days he held out, till his 
ammunition was nearly gone and half of his guns 
were disabled. Then he was obliged to surrender, 
but he secured honorable terms. His men were to 
keep their effects and were permitted to go free under 
a pledge not to engage in the war again for a year 
and a half, and a safe passage to Fort Edward was 
guaranteed. But the Indians had become intoxi- 
cated with the liquor found in the English camp. 
They fell upon the prisoners, and thirty Englishmen 
were killed and others made captive. The remainder 
fled panic-stricken to Fort Edward. Montcalm and 
other Frenchmen risked their lives to redeem their 
promise, but in vain. 

Thus matters stood at the end of 1757, in even a 
worse shape than at the close of the previous year. 



THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 



215 



The French were masters of the Ohio valley and had 
gained a brilliant victory in the north. The only ex- 
pedition of the English had proved a failure through 
the incompetence of the commander-in-chief. 



2i6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR SUCCESSES AND 

PEACE. 

Pitt made prime minister — Abercrombie, Howe, and Boscawen — 
Plans for 175S — Amherst lakes Louisburg — Howe is killed 
near Ticonderoga — Abercrombie attacks the fort — Is defeat- 
ed — Rradstreet captures Fort Frontenac — Fort Duquesne 
evacuated by the French — Amherst made commander-in- 
chief — Preparations for 1759 — Fo'"' Niagara surrenders to the 
English — The French driven from Lake Champlain — Wolfe 
advances on Quebec — A temporary check — Defeats the French 
on the Plains of Abraham — Wolfe and Montcalm mortd- 
ly wounded — Quebec capitulates — Montreal captured — The 
Cherokees in arms — Their defeat — The English occupy the 
French frontier posts — Trouble with the Indians — Pontiac's 
conspiracy. — The conspiracy broken — The treaty of Paris — Its 
provisions. 

The disasters of the years 1756 and 1757 had pro- 
voked much discontent in England, which resulted 
finally in a change of ministers. " William Pitt was 
now called to the head of the government, and he de- 
termined on a vigorous prosecution of the v/ar. Ab- 
ercrombie was appointed to succeed Loudoun, with 
young Lord Howe second in command. Amherst, 
Forbes, James Wolfe, and Richard Montgomery were 
leading officers. Admiral Boscawen was in command 
of the fleet of twenty-two ships of the line and fifteen 
frigates. Three campaigns were arranged for the 
year 1758. Amherst and the fleet were to capture 
Louisburg, Howe was to take Crown Point and Ti- 
conderoga, and Forbes was to recover the Ohio val- 
ley. 



THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 217 

In the latter part of May Amherst found himself at 
Halifax with 10,000 men and a strong fleet and pro- 
ceeded to Louisburg. In the early part of June Woife 
landed, drove the French into their fortress, and 
planted guns which directed an effective fire against 
the enemy. The siege was pressed with energy. 
The town was in ruins; the fort was showing the re- 
sults of the severe bombardment — only twelve out of 
fifty-two cannon were in a condition to reply; sev- 
eral of the French vessels had been burned. Louis- 
burg was therefore forced to capitulate on July 28, 
1758. Nearly 6,000 men became prisoners of war, 
and Cape Breton and Prince Edward's Island came 
into the possession of Great Britain. Then, having 
accomplished their purpose, the English abandoned 
Louisburg. 

In the meantime the expedition against Crown 
Point and Ticonderoga had been commenced. Lord 
Howe with 15,000 men, two-thirds of whom were pro- 
vincials, reached Lake George on July 5th. The ar- 
tillery of the English could not be easily maneuvered 
in tlie region around Ticonderoga, so leaving the 
heavy guns behind the soldiers advanced, led by 
Howe. On July 6th they encountered the advanced 
post of the French, but a few hundred in number. 
An engagement followed, in which the English were 
victorious but suffered by the death of Lord Howe. 
Abercrombie was not far off, but the loss of their im- 
mediate leader prevented an advance. 

Two days later an English engineer reported that 
Ticonderoga had feeblo defenses. The sequel showed 
that he was mistaken. Abercrombie decided to carry 
the place by assault, and for four hours on a hot after- 
noon the English stormed in vain the strong breast- 
works. The French numbered only 3,600 men, but 
Montcalm, their leader, was a host in himself. So 
bravely did they fight, and so ably were they directed, 



2i8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

that the English were finally obliged to withdraw with 
a loss of 1,967 men in killed and wounded. 

The English forces were still largely in excess of 
the French, and with a good general Ticonderoga 
might still have been secured. But Abercrombie did 
not possess the requisite qualities. He returned to 
Fort George. Thence he dispatched 3,000 men under 
Colonel Bradstreet to capture Fort Frontenac, on 
Lake Ontario, at the present site of Kingston. Brad- 
street marched across New York to Oswego, crossed 
the lake in boats, and after a siege of two days capt- 
ured the fort. This valuable post of the French was 
destroyed, and nine vessels of war, forty-six cannon, 
and large quantities of stores fell into the hands of 
the British. The success of this exploit almost made 
up for the failure at Ticonderoga, but the dead sol- 
diers could not be brought back to life. 

The expedition against Fort Duquesne was led by 
Forbes, with 9,000 men. Washington and Armstrong 
were with him, leading the detachments from Virginia 
and Pennsylvania. The advance was slow, and a 
number of men in the van were lost in an ambus- 
cade. But when Washington was still ten miles from 
the fort, the 500 Frenchmen who garrisoned the place, 
perceiving the uselessness of attempting to defend it 
against such superior numbers, burned the fortress 
and fled. On November 25th the English entered 
the intrenchments and named the spot Pittsburg, after 
the great English minister. 

So ended the campaigns of the year 1758, successful 
at all points except at Ticonderoga, of which only the 
incompetence of the general prevented the capture. 
Amherst was now made commander-in-chief, and 
Parliament voted ^12,000,000 for prosecuting the 
war. The prospects for 1759 were exceedingly bright. 
The British and colonial army numbered nearly 50,000 
men; the French had but about 7,000, and the entire 



THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 219 

population of Canada was only 82,000. Pitt deter- 
mined to carry the war into the enemy's territory. 
Prideaux was to capture Niagara and then descend 
to Montreal; Amherst himself was to take Ticonder- 
oga and Crown Point, and Wolfe, by way of the St. 
Lawrence, was to gain possession of Quebec. 

General Prideaux laid siege to Fort Niagara on 
July loth, but being killed a few days later by the 
bursting of a gun, the command devolved on Sir 
William Johnson. On July 24th he utterly routed 
re-enforcements, under d'Aubry, who were coming to 
the aid of the garrison. On the next day Niagara, 
with 600 men, was surrendered to the English. So 
the French lost their important intermediate station 
between Canada and the south and west. 

The same month of July witnessed the success of 
Amherst on Lake Champlain. The French could not 
hope to cope with his force of 11,000 men. After 
some slight resistance, they abandoned Ticonderoga 
on July 36th and retreated to Crown Point. A few 
days later they gave up this post also and retired to 
Isle-aux-Noix, in the Sorrel River. Amherst ought 
now to have advanced against Montreal, but instead 
he wasted his time in building and repairing fortifi- 
cations. He was a brave officer, but his intellect did 
not grasp the necessity of following up his victory. 
It was left for another campaign to complete the 
work of conquering Canada. 

James Wolfe, however, was a different kind of man. 
Brave, able, and resolved to sacrifice his life if neces- 
sary, he was well calculated to achieve the great task 
before him of taking Quebec. As soon as the St. 
Lawrence was cleared of ice he proceeded, with near- 
ly 8,000 men and forty-four vessels under Admiral 
Saunders. On June 27th he landed on the Isle of 
Orleans, four miles below Quebec, and formed a camp 
at its upper end. On the night of June 29th General 



22C HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Monckton succeeded in seizing Point Levi, opposite 
the city, and planting a battery there. By the lire of 
these guns the lower town was soon destroyed and 
considerable injury inflicted on the upper town, but 
the fortress stood intact. Montcalm, with French and 
Canadians to about the number of the English, lay en- 
camped below the city, between the Montmorenci and 
St. Charles rivers, thinking the fortress impregnable. 

The English crossed to the northern bank of the 
St. Lawrence, and were now separated from the 
French only by the Montmorenci River. This stream 
was fordable at low water, and an attack was made on 
the enemy on the last day of July. Monckton, how- 
ever, was unable to execute his supporting movement 
in time, and the English were repulsed with the loss 
of 400 lives. 

The disappointment occasioned by this reverse and 
his incessant activity threw Wolfe into a fever. A 
council of war was held at his bedside, and though 
the general favored another assault, his plan was out- 
voted. Wolfe acquiesced in the plans of the majority, 
and it was decided to gain possession of the Plains of 
Abraham, in the rear of the city. He therefore trans- 
ferred his army to the southefn bank of the St. Law- 
rence above the city, securing his positions at the 
Isle of Orleans and Point Levi, and occupying the 
attention of the enemy in other directions. He then 
sought a place of ascent to the plateau, and finally 
chose as a landing-place the spot now known as 
Wolfe's Cove, from which ascended a steep path 
hardly wide enough for two men abreast. 

The day and evening of the 12th of September was 
spent in preparation. Everything was complete. At 
about I o'clock on the morning of the 13th the 
boats dropped down with the tide, the ships followed, 
the precipitous hill was climbed, the feeble guard at 
its summit dispersed, and the sun arose to look upon 



THE FRENCir AND INDIAN- WAR. 221 

the English army marshaled on the Plains of Abra- 
ham. 

Montcalm was amazed when he heard the news, and 
hurriedly bringing up his forces, threw them between 
Wolfe and this weakest side of the endangered city. 
The armies were each about 5,000 in number. The 
English were all regulars, perfectly trained and trust- 
ing implicitly to their leader. The French had but 
2,000 regulars. An hour was spent in a fire between 
the few cannon. Then the French made an attempt 
to outflank Wolfe, in which attempt they were un- 
successful. 

Now Montcalm led his troops to a charge. The 
English reserved their fire till the French ranks, 
broken by the unevenness of the ground, had come 
within forty yards, and then they poured a destruct- 
ive shower of lead upon them. Montcalm, though 
wounded, was present everywhere, directing and 
cheering. But the Canadians began to waver. Wolfe 
headed an impetuous charge. He was wounded in 
the wrist but pressed on. He was hit by a second 
ball but continued. Just as the French were giving 
way before the English bayonets he received a mor- 
tal wound in the breast; An officer helped him from 
the field. " They run ! they run !" said his compan- 
ion. *' Who run .?" gasped Wolfe. " The French give 
way everywhere," was the reply. Then giving a final 
order to complete the victory, the dying hero mur- 
mured, " Now God be praised ! I die in peace." 

Montcalm, too, had received a second and a mortal 
wound. *' How long shall I survive?" he asked the 
surgeon. " Ten or twelve hours — perhaps less." '' So 
much the better," exclaimed the Frenchman ; '" I shall 
not live to see the surrender of Quebec." At 5 
o'clock the next morning he passed away, and France 
had lost one of her most gallant heroes, wise in coun- 
cil, unselfish in sharing difficulties and dangers, and 
brave in battle. 



22 2 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Further defense of Quebec was useless. On the 
17th of September the city capitulated to General 
Tovvnshend. The year 1759 had seen a successful 
issue to ail three of the campaigns that had been 
planned. Great was the rejoicing in the colonies and 
in England, but the enthusiasm centered in the victory 
of Wolfe, which practically ended the war. The loss 
of so brave a hero, however, mingled grief with exul- 
tation. 

In the spring of 1760 France made an effort to re- 
cover her lost ground. A battle was fought west of 
Quebec. The French, under Levi, suffered a loss of 
300 men, but succeeded in driving the English, under 
Murray, into the city, with the lose of 1,000. Re-en- 
forcements, however, arrived before long, and the siege 
was raised. Later in the year Amherst descended to 
Montreal by way of Oswego and the St. Lawrence, 
met the forces of Murray and others from Crown 
Point, and on September 8th received the capitulation 
of the city. The last important post of the French in 
the valley of the St. Lawrence passed into English 
hands, and the surrender included all of Canada. 

In the summer of this same year the Cherokee In- 
dians rose against the English and captured Fort 
Loudoun, in the northeastern part of Tennessee. 
Safety was promised to the garrison, but the savages 
violated their compact and massacred or made cap- 
tive the whole of their prisoners. The next year 
Amherst sent Lieutenant-Colonel Grant against the 
Cherokees, and he succeeded in forcing them into a 
treaty of peace. 

After the capitulation of Montreal, English soldiers 
were sent to take possession of the western forts of 
the French, which had been given up at the same time. 
By the last of November, 1760, Major Rogers had 
reached Detroit, but the posts at Mackinaw, St. Marie, 
and Green Bay were not garrisoned till the next sum- 
mer. 



THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR, 223 

The English were thus brought into the very midst 
of the Indians, who were friendly to the French and 
still expected their triumph. They failed to under- 
stand that their allies had lost Canada. Rudely treat- 
ed by the English, instigated by the French, and 
angry at real and fancied wrongs, they began to com- 
bine against the English. In 1761 a treacherous en- 
deavor was made to capture Detroit, which happily 
failed, as did another attempt the next year. 

It was in this state of affairs that Pontiac, chief of 
the Ottawas who wandered through the region between 
Lake Michigan and Lake Erie, organized the widest 
and most threatening conspiracy that was ever known 
among the Indians. Pontiac doubted that peace could 
be arranged between the rival French and English. 
Trusting to the hope that peace would not be secured, 
he planned a union of the Indian tribes from the Al- 
leghanies to the Mississippi. The 7th of May, 1763, 
was set as the day on which all the English forts on 
the frontier should be simultaneously attacked. 

Pontiac undertook himself the task of capturing 
Detroit. The scheme was carefully prepared, but 
when the Indians attempted to gain possession of the 
post by treachery they found the garrison armed to 
receive them. The plot had been revealed, it is said, 
by the friendship of an Indian girl for the command- 
ant, and after a long siege the Indians were driven 
away. 

Elsewhere the savages were more successful. Forts 
Sandusky, St. Joseph, and Mackinaw were taken and 
the English massacred. By midsummer all the forts 
in the west had been captured except Detroit, Niag- 
ara, and Pittsburg. Now, however, the Indians be- 
gan to hear of a treaty beHveen France and England, 
and one tribe after another sought peace. The con- 
federacy was broken up. But Pontiac and his war- 
riors of the Ottawas continued the struggle for two 



2 24 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

years longer Then his friends deserted him, and he 
was finally murdered by an Illinois Indian. 

The war between France and England ended in 
America with the capture of Montreal, but it was 
still continued in other quarters of the world, these 
two countries being also engaged in the general 
European conflict known as the Seven Years' War, 
in which Spain also finally joined. The French and 
Indian War was at last terminated by the treaty of 
Paris, February lo, 1763. By the terms of this treaty 
France gave up her possessions in North America 
with hardly an exception. All east of the Mississippi 
were surrendered to Great Britain except the Island 
of New Orleans. This island and the vast province 
known as Louisiana, west of the Father of Waters, 
was given to Spain, and Spain in turn gave up to 
Great Britain East and West Florida. All that 
France retained of her immense domain on this con- 
tinent was two small islands near the Canadian coast 
as a refuge for her fishermen. 

So closed a war most important in Europe and 
America. In the New World it settled forever the 
question as to what language, religion, and civiliza- 
tion should dominate the continent of North America. 
And we have already referred to its effect in estab- 
lishing more friendly relations between the colonies^ 
and in showing them their strength and the necessity 
for united action. 



CONDI TIOi\ OF THE COLONIES. 225 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

CONDITION OF THE COLONIES. 

Political and religious differences between the colonies — Diversity 
in character — Varying laws — Slavery — Life of the settlers — 
Means of conveyance — Educational interests — Newspapers — 
Books and learning — Colleges — Population — Manufactures 
and commerce — Agricultural products — Post-office system — 
Money — The Revolution draws nigh. 

Before we enter on the history of the struggle by 
which the colonists secured independence from Great 
Britain, it will be well to take a rapid glance at their 
condition as they emerged from the French and In- 
dian War and passed into the Revolutionary stage of 
their history. 

The thirteen colonies that afterward joined to make 
the thirteen original states of the Union had by this 
time all been founded — New Hampshire, Massachu- 
setts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut ; New York, New 
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland ; Vir- 
ginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. 

The differences that existed between these colonies 
in the character of their people, their customs, and 
their laws was chiefly due to the nature of the set- 
tlers, the soil which they cultivated, and the climate 
in which they lived. New England was established 
by people whose sentiments developed, with those of 
their dissenting brethren in England, into opposition 
to the crown. Virginia was guided by men of aristo- 
cratic and royal inclinations. Their religions also 
differed. Puritan principles, strong and rigorous — • 



226 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

and as they seem to us to-day, even harsh in their se- 
verity — prevailed in the northeast. New York, owing 
probably to the Dutch element of its population, paid 
little attention to religious controversies. New Jer- 
sey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware followed the peace- 
ful propensities cf the Quakers. Virginia established 
Episcopalianism. 

The cultivation of the soil in New England was, on 
the whole, attended with difficulties. What the set- 
tlers succeeded in obtaining from it was won by hard 
toil. In the south so much labor was not required. 
The climate in the north was severe : bitter winters and 
frequent changes of temperature occasioned numerous 
lung diseases, and a hardy constitution was necessary 
to bid defiance to the weather. The south was of 
course warmer all the year and much hotter in sum- 
mer. So it very naturally happened, from their origin 
and their surroundings, that the colonists of New 
England developed into a hardy, vigorous race, and 
the settlers of the south in>o a more aristocratic and 
passionate and a less energetic people. 

The results of these differences can be easily traced 
in the varying history of the colonies. Sumptuary 
laws — that is, laws regulating wages, prices of various 
articles and clothing — were adopted by all, in accord- 
ance with the ideas of the period in which they lived, 
but the northern colonies enforced severer morals 
than the south. The smoking of tobacco publicly 
and by minors was prohibited in New England and 
Pennsylvania, while in New York and the south it 
was freely used. Amusements were introduced into 
New England under protest from the elder and staid 
portion of the community, while they were freely in- 
dulged in at the south. But most of the colonies had 
stringent laws enforcing the observance of Sunday 
and attendance on church-services. The stocks and 
whipping-post were common forms of punishment, 
and numerous crimes were capital offenses. 



CONDITION OF THE COLONIES, 



227 



Greater than all was the difference in the matter 
of slavery. It was introduced into all the colonies 
but flourished especially in the south, where the in- 
tense heat of the sun made it difficult or dangerous 
for Europeans to work in the fields. The ease-lov- 
ing nature of the planters was thus increased, class- 
distinctions were encouraged, and the institution grew 
into vast proportions. In the north, though all the 
colonies had slaves within their borders at the com- 
mencement of the Revolution, it was gradually dis- 
couraged and finally abandoned. Thus it happened 
that a century after the pe- 
riod of which we are now 
writing, the north and the 
south found themselves ar- 
rayed in arms against each 
other. 

The habits of the people 
differed everywhere. The 
English, the Dutch, and the 
French ; the Puritans and 
the Quakers ; the farmers 
in one portion of the coun- 
try and the planters in another; the inhabitants of 
towns and the pioneers on the frontier; the sailor, 
the merchant, and the backwoodsman must neces- 
sarily have diverse habits and different costumes. 
There was little elegance among any of them ; for the 
eighteenth century among the middle classes even in 
England was a period of so few household comforts 
and conveniences compared with our own that it is 
difficult to realize it. 

The early settler lived in a log-cabin, often sur- 
rounded by palisades for protection against the In- 
dians ; rode on horseback with his wife behind him 
on a pillion ; used oiled paper instead of glass for his 
windows ; dressed in homespun ; had for bread coarse 




-7:^:^^^k 



THE STOCKS. 



2 28 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

rye and Indian, with little or no coffee or tea. Grad- 
ually, of course, this rude condition was improved as 
towns grew and became the centers of civilization 
and wealth increased in the colonies. But even now 
there was much necessary simplicity in their style of 
living. Luxuries were rare. Stage-coaches hung on 
straps instead of springs were in use, but lumbered 
slowly along the poor roads. Two days were occu- 
pied in going from Boston to Providence — the first 
regular stage-route, established about 1772. Coach- 
es and roads, however, were not good even in Eng- 
land. 

The quarter of the country of most educational 
progress was New England. It is said that at this 
period there was not a smgle grown person, born in 
this country, who could not read and write. The 
middle colonies, except Pennsylvania, were not so 
well provided with educational facilities, and in the 
south the schools were chiefly for the wealthier class- 
es. Newspapers were few, owing to the lack of large 
towns. The first periodical in America was the Bos- 
ton News-Letter^ published in 1 704. In 1 7 2 1 the fourth 
periodical, the New England Coiirant, was published 
by James Franklin, assisted by his younger brother 
Benjamin. At the close of the French and Indian 
War there were not more than ten newspapers pub- 
lished in the colonies. Publications of other sdrts 
were proportionally few. 

Notwithstanding the lack of American works, how- 
ever, there were men of wide reading and culture. 
Such were Franklin, the Adamses, Thomas Jefferson, 
and others whose names we shall meet in the stirring 
time which was now approaching. But the arts and 
sciences were little developed. The clergy were the 
chief class of educated men, and they, with lawyers 
and physicians, were more highly esteemed in the 
north than in the south. But centers of education 



CONDITION OF THE COLONIES. 



229 



were being established. Before the Revolution be- 
gan there were nine colleges scattered through the 
colonies — Harvard, William and Mary, Yale, Prince- 
ton, King's (now Columbia), Brown, Queen's (now 
Rutgers), Dartmouth, and Hampden and Sydney. 
The first medical college was established at Phila- 
delphia in 1764. 

The population of the colonies in 1760 amounted 







A WEDDING-JOURNEY. 



101,695,000. Ofthebc, 
1,385,000 were white, 
and the remainde 
310,000, negroes. The 
blacks were much 
more numerous in 
the south. For in- 
stance : In 1754 there were in New England only about 
14,000 blacks, and in the middle colonies, including 
Maryland, only about 71,000, while south of the Po- 
tomac there were about 178,000. In 1760 Virginia 
contained the greatest population of any of the col- 
onies — 284,000, but of these only 168,000 were of Euro- 
pean ancestry ; while Massachusetts had a white pop- 
ulation of over 200,000. Pennsylvania, Connecticut, 



230 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Maryland, and New York came next, and so on to 
Georgia, which contained, all told, less than 5,000 in- 
habitants. 

The manufacturing interests were small at the time 
of the Revolution, owing chiefly to the restrictions 
placed upon them by the jealousy of England. Such 
as they were, they were chiefly centered in New Eng- 
land. Ship -building was an important industry. 
Coasting -vessels provided for the small commerce 
between the colonies and carried passengers from 
point to point along the coast. Some trade was also 
carried on with foreign ports. New York, Philadel- 
phia, and Boston were the commercial centers of the 
country, but at the time of the Revolution the ex- 
ports of the colonies were only about ;^4,ooo,ooo and 
the imports ;£3, 500,000. 

The Americans, however, were for the most part an 
agricultural people. In Virginia tobacco and in the 
Carolinas and Georgia rice were the most important 
crops. Cotton, indigo, wheat, maize, potatoes, hemp, 
and flax were also raised. Tar and turpentine were 
obtained from the trees. The middle colonies raised 
wheat, maize, and other grains, and New York en- 
joyed a profitable fur-trade. New England, besides 
its cultivation of soil producing various grains, pos- 
sessed rich fishing-grounds and also sent out whaling- 
vessels. 

The post-office system was poorly developed. As 
early as 1692 a patent had been granted for estab- 
lishing postal service, and when the patent expired, 
in 1 7 10, the British service was extended to the colo- 
nies. But it was badly managed, and in 1776 there 
were but seventy-five post-offices in the country. Mon- 
ey was scarce and trade was largely by barter. Mas- 
sachusetts was the first colony to coin money, which 
she had commenced to do in 1652 by the establish- 
ment of a mint, from which was issued the " pine-tree 
shilling" and other pieces. 



CONDITION OF THE COLONIES. 231 

Such was the political, commercial, and social con- 
dition of the colonies when the whisperings of revolt 
began to be heard through the land. The second 
period of our history, the period during which the 
separate colonies were founded and firmly estab- 
lished, draws to a close. The time had come when 
they were to be united and independent, and we may 
now pass to the history of the American Revolution. 



Third Period, 



Independence and Union. 



. THIRD PERIOD. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION. 

Independent spirit of the people — Hatred of George III. — French 
hostility toward England — Arbitrary government of the colo- 
nies — Taxation without representation — Review of oppress- 
ive acts — Search-warrants — Trade with the West Indies de- 
stroyed — A stamp-tax threatened — The Stamp Act passed — 
Reception of the news in America — Patrick Henry — First 
Colonial Congress — Operation of the Stamp Act prevented — 
Non-importation agreement — The act is repealed — New taxes 
imposed — Renewed opposition — Gage in Boston — The "Reg- 
ulators " in Virginia — Trouble in New York — The Boston Mas- 
sacre — The Gaspe burned — The duty on tea — The "Boston 
Tea-party " — The Boston Port Bill — Second Colonial Con- 
gress — Soldiers sent to Boston — Boston Neck fortified — Mas- 
sachusetts prepares for resistance — '* Minute-men." 

We are about to narrate the history of a most im- 
portant event — important not only in the New World 
but in the Old World as well. In America it settled 
forever the question whether the inhabitants should 
rule themselves or whether they should be governed 
by a parliament and a king living across the seas. 
And the foundation of a government in America *' of 
the people, by the people, and for the people " has 
been an example and an inspiration to advanced 
minds in Europe ever since. The French Revolution 



236 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

was to no little degree the result of the liberal po- 
litical ideas which had been expressed, fought for, 
and finally embodied in a constitution in America. 

The first and most general cause of the American 
Revolution is to be found in the character of the peo- 
ple and the history of the colonies. We have already 
pointed out how an independent spirit among the 
colonists was the natural result of the* oppression at 
home from which the original settlers fled and the 
hardships they experienced in the wilderness. Ba- 
con's rebellion in Virginia, Connecticut's resistance 
to Andros and Fletcher, and numerous other acts 
show how ill the colonists bore tyranny or unwar- 
ranted interference. The contests with unwise pro- 
prietors, with despotic kings and tyrannical royal 
governors, had not endeared to the people govern- 
ment from beyond the seas. 

Public opinion was beginning to incline toward the 
idea of independence. John Adams and other ad- 
vanced thinkers saw the probable result twenty years 
before the struggle commenced. The bulk of the 
people, however, though they and their publications 
showed with increasing force that they entertained 
the same notion, did not actually appreciate the situ- 
ation and declare plainly for independence till the 
struggle was upon them. It was not till wrongs had 
been heaped on wrongs beyond endurance that they 
were willing to revolt against their mother country. 
Then the possibility and necessity for united action 
which all had been taught by the French and Indian 
War, and some of them previously, drew them to- 
gether in their common desires and dangers. 

Personal antipathy to the king, George III., had 
not a little to do with the feeling of the Americans. 
The vast majority of this generation had never seen 
their monarch, and they had not lived near enough to 
the seat of government to have had their eyes blinded 



CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION. 



237 



by the magnificence of a crown to the faults of him 
who wore it. They could appreciate even more clear- 
ly than Britons the shallowness, the stubbornness, and 
the despotic nature of George III., who ascended the 
throne in 1760 and for sixty years was king of a no- 
ble people. 

The hostility of France to England led her to hope 
that at some time the colonies, by setting up a gov- 
ernment of their own, would give a heavy blow to the 
extent and supremacy of Great Britain. French in- 
fluence was exerted to stir up a spirit of resistance 
in the colonies, and when war commenced she assist- 
ed them, at first privately, and afterward openly and 
so efficiently that a considerable share of the success- 
ful result of the Revolution must be credited to her. 

A more important cause than any we have yet men- 
tioned was the right claimed by Great Britain of ar- 
bitrary government of the co'onies. While this claim 
was merely maintained as a theory it provoked little 
opposition, but the instant an endeavor was made to 
put it into practice the colonists were aroused. 

This led to the final and most prominent cause of 
the Revolution. The colonists had no representatives 
in Parliament. That body nevertheless maintained its 
right to enforce taxes in America. The colonists 
claimed the full rights of Englishmen, and according 
to a well-established principle of the English consti- 
tution, the people were entitled to be represented in 
the body that taxed them. They insisted, therefore, 
that the colonial assemblies should be the only au- 
thority to levy taxes upon them. The English min- 
isters asserted that many of the towns of England 
were not represented in Parliament and yet were 
taxed. So much the worse for them, replied the col- 
onies ; if they are not represented they ought to be. 
And they declared that '''taxation ivitJiout represeiitation 
was tyra?iny" For this principle they fought, for this 



238 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

they offered up their lives and their fortunes, and this 
they finally won by establishing a government of 
their own, where it has the fullest recognition. 

There were various definite acts which brought 
matters to a head and were the immediate cause of 
the war, and as we review these we shall see the op- 
position to them becoming more and more marked 
and outspoken. 

As far back as 165 1 and 1660 navigation acts had been 
passed which seriously interfered with the commerce 
of the colonies, especially of Virginia and Massachu- 
setts. In 1733 an Importation Act laid excessive du- 
ties on imported sugar, molasses, and rum. The mer- 
chants evaded the payment of these duties and finally 
openly disregarded the statute. In 1750 the building 
of iron-works, the manufacture of steel, and the fell- 
ing of pine trees outside of inclosures were forbidden. 
These provisions were disregarded by the colonists 
and denounced as tyrannical. In 1761, in order to 
enforce the Importation Act, the colonial courts were 
authorized to issue to the royal officers writs of as- 
sistance. By the aid of these search-warrants the 
officials might seek in any place and at any time for 
imported goods on which they suspected the duty 
had not been paid. Boston and Salem were especial- 
ly excited, and James Otis delivered eloquent and able 
arguments for colonial rights and asserted the unconsti- 
tutional nature of these acts. The writs became so 
unpopular that, though granted, they were seldom 
used. 

In 1763 and 1764 attempts were made to enforce the 
payment of duties on molasses and sugar. English 
war ships were sent to watch American harbors, and 
a large number of merchantmen were seized. Trade 
with ihe West Indies was almost broken up. 

Pitt, the friend of the colonies, had resigned, and 
Grenvilie was now prime minister. In March, 1764, 



CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION. 239 

Parliament announced its intention of imposing a 
stamp-duty on the colonies. The news occasioned 
the greatest excitement in the colonies, and orators 
and newspapers grew eloquent in their opposition to 
the proposed law. Remonstrances were sent to the 
king and to Parliament, and agents were sent to ob- 
ject to the plan. The ministers urged that the ex- 
penses of the French and Indian War should be borne 
by the colonies in whose defense it was undertaken, 
to which it was conclusively replied that Great Brit- 
ain had gained much by her increase of territory, 
that she ought to protect her colonies without regard 
to mercenary motives, and that the Americans had 
proved themselves strong enough to fight their own 
battles. 

Nevertheless in March, 1765, Parliament passed the 
Stamp Act by a unanimous vote in the house of 
lords, and a majority of 5 to i in the house of com- 
mons. George III. at the time was in one of his 
fits of insanity, and the royal assent to the bill was 
therefore given, on March 22d, by a board of com- 
missioners acting for the king. The act provided 
that no legal document — bond or mortgage, or con- 
tract or any other — should be valid unless executed 
on stamped paper, which was to be purchased from 
the British government for a sum varying from three 
pence to six pounds sterling. Newspapers and sim- 
ilar publications must also be printed on stamped 
paper, and every advertisement was taxed. The first 
day of the next November was set as the time for the 
act to go into operation. 

The news of the passage of this act created the 
wildest excitement in America, the like of which had 
never been known. In New York the act w^as carried 
through the streets with the inscription, " The Folly 
of England and the Ruin of America," and in Massa- 
chusetts frequent meetings were held under a tree 
which was called the " Liberty-Tree." 



240 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

In Virginia the aristocratic leaders of the house of 
burgesses hesitated to pronounce outspoken opposi- 
tion, but there was a young member of that body 
whose feelings of indignation could not restrain them- 
selves. Patrick Henry presented a series of resolu- 
tions declaring, among other things, that the colonists 
were not bound to pay taxes levied on them in this 
way. He grew eloquent in his argument for the adop- 
tion of these resolutions. *'Tarquin and Caesar had 
each his Brutus,"' he exclaimed; "Charles I. had his 

Cromwell, and George III. " "Treason! treason!" 

was heard from the speaker and from the loyalist 
members. But Henry continued, " — and George III. 
may profit by their example. If that be treason, make 
the most of it!" The resolutions were carried and 
circulated among the other colonies, where they added 
fuel to the flame, though the next day, in the absence 
of Henry, they were modified, to make them less 
radical. 

Massachusetts and New York passed motions of like 
import, and in the former colony originated the plan 
of an American Congress to discuss the affairs of the 
colonies. James Otis was a strong agitator for the 
adoption of this plan. It was received with favor, 
South Carolina leading the way in its indorsement, 
and on October 7, 1765, the First Colonial Congress 
met at New York. It was composed of twenty-eight 
delegates from nine colonies, and Timothy Ruggles, of 
Massachusetts, was chosen president. A Declaration 
of Rights was adopted after a discussion of three 
weeks, setting forth that the colonists would not sub- 
mit to be taxed by any but their own representatives. 
A petition to the king, loyal but asking for a more 
considerate policy, and memorials to both houses of 
Parliament were also drawn up. 

The day approached on which the act was to go 
into effect. Large quantities of the stamped paper 



CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION, .241 

had been prepared and sent to America. In New 
York and Boston the people seized and destroyed it. 
The stamp-officers were threatened, and every one of 
them was forced to resign or leave the country. 
When the ist of November came, not a stamp nor a 
stamp-officer was to be seen. The day was passed as 
one of mourning — the flags at half-mast, the bells toll- 
ing, the stores closed. 

Business and society were at first demoralized, 
though things soon began to run in their usual 
grooves. But no stamps were used. The merchants 
of New York, Philadelphia, and Boston agreed to im- 
port no more goods from Great Britain till the ob- 
noxious act should be stricken from the statute-books, 
and the people cheerfully went without their imported 
luxuries in dress and food. A device was circulated 
of a snake broken into sections, each representing a 
colony, with the inscription, " Unite or Die!" 

In England many of the people sided with the 
Americans. The Marquis of Rockingham was now 
prime minister, and he, as well as Pitt, was the 
friend of the colonies. A vigorous effort was made 
"to annul the Stamp Act, and on March 18, 1766, it 
was repealed. But Parliament still insisted on its 
right "to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever." 

For over a year now Parliament did not vex Amer- 
ica. In the meantime Pitt had once more been called 
to the head of the government and made Earl of 
Chatham. During a sickness of the prime minister 
one of his colleagues introduced a new bill to impose 
a duty on all paper, glass, lead, paints, and tea which 
should be imported into the colonies. This was car- 
ried on June 29, 1767. At the same time the powers of 
the general assembly of New York were suspended 
till it should vote supplies for quartering the British 
troops in accordance with a former act. 

Again the people showed their spirit of resistance. 



242 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The merchants made another compact to import no 
British goods; the newspapers contained fierce and 
patriotic articles. The assembly of Massachusetts, 
in February, 1768, called on the other colonies for co- 
operation and consultation. The ministers demanded 
that their action be repealed; the assembly reaffirmed 
it with an almost unanimous vote. The governor 
dissolved their body, but before they separated they 
drew up charges against the governor and asked the 
king to remove him. 

In June of this year, 1768, a sloop was seized by 
the custom-house officers on a charge of having 
evaded the payment of duties. The people rose and 
drove the officers to the fort in Boston harbor. The 
governor now asked the government for aid, and 700 
regular soldiers were brought from Halifax to over- 
awe the inhabitants of Boston. The authorities of 
that city, highly incensed at this action, refused point- 
blank to provide quarters for the soldiers, and Gen- 
eral Gage, commander-in-chief of the British forces 
in America, was obliged to dispose of them as best 
he could. 

In February, 1769, Parliament declared the people 
of Massachusetts to be rebels, and instructed the 
governor to make arrests and send those charged with 
treason to England for trial. The assembly passed 
defiant resolutions. In Virginia and North Carolina 
the people became violent. An insurrection broke 
out in the latter province, which, however, was put 
down by Governor Tryon. The insurgents — " Regu- 
lators," as they were called — crossed the mountams 
and laid the foundations of Tennessee. 

In the early part of 1770 the inhabitants of New 
York had a dispute with the soldiers' regarding a 
liberty-pole, in which the people gained their point. 
On March 5th a serious difficulty arose in Boston. 
The people were bitterly opposed to the presence of 



CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION. 243 

soldiers among them and did not hesitate to make 
taunting and harsh remarks. This ill-feeling culmi- 
nated at last on this day, when a guard of the soldiers, 
under Captain Preston, provoked by the jeers of the 
crowd, fired a volley that killed three citizens and 
wounded eleven, two of these mortally. 

This Boston Massacre, as it was called, roused the 
city to a state of fury. The people assembled in arms, 
and Samuel Adams spoke for them and demanded 
the immediate withdrawal of the troops. Governor 
Hutchinson was forced to yield. The troops were 
withdrawn, and Captain Preston and his guard were 
arrested and tried. Two were convicted of man- 
slaughter and the rest acquitted. 

Lord North was now prime minister, and on this 
very 5th of March he carried through Parliament an 
act removing the duty on all American imports except 
tea. Duty was retained on that article, only to show 
the right of Parliament to tax the colonies. The 
Americans saw at once what it meant, and they in- 
dorsed the action of their merchants, who now main- 
tained their non-importation compact on tea alone. 

In 1772 another obnoxious act was passed, requir- 
ing the salaries of the governor and judges of Massa- 
chusetts to be paid out of the colonial treasury, with- 
out the permission of the assembly. The assembly 
declared that this act was void because a violation of 
their chartered rights. About the same time, in Nar- 
ragansett Bay, a party from Providence boarded and 
burned a royal schooner, the Gaspe\ which had been 
annoying them. 

In 1773 the ministers attempted to get the better of 
the colonists by strategy. The export duty which had 
heretofore been exacted on tea when it left the English 
ports was abolished. It was thought that by this 
means the price of tea would be so much lowered, 
even with the import duty into America, that the col- 



244 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

onists would buy. It was principle, not price, how- 
ever, for which the colonists contended. New York 
and Philadelphia prevented the tea from being land- 
ed. In Charleston it was stored in damp cellars and 
spoiled. 

In Boston the people took a dramatic means to ac- 
complish their purpose. On the night of December 
i6th a party of about fifty men, disguised as Indians, 
boarded the three vessels in the harbor which had 
brought cargoes of tea, broke open every chest, and 
poured the contents into the sea. To this event is 
given the humorous name of the " Boston Tea- 
party." 

In revenge for this act Parliament passed the Bos- 
ton Port Bill on March 31, 1774, by the provisions 
of which the harbor of Boston was closed to trade 
and the custom-house was removed to Salem, which 
was made the port of entry. But Salem and Marble- 
head offered the use of their wharves and warehouses 
to the merchants of Boston. On May 20th the old 
charter of Massachusetts was revoked, the people 
were proclaimed to be rebels, and the governor was 
ordered to arrest and send abroad for trial all who 
should resist the king's officers. 

The Second Colonial Congress met at Philadelphia 
in September, with delegates from eleven colonies. 
Peyton Randolph, of Virginia, was president. A res- 
olution was unanimously adopted to sustain Massa- 
chusetts in her struggle with tyranny, and addresses 
were sent to the king, to the English nation^ and to 
the inhabitants of Canada. It was also recommended 
that commercial intercourse with Great Britain should 
be suspended till justice be done. The Congress then 
adjourned to meet again on May 10, 1775. 

Parliament answered by ordering General Gage, 
now governor of Massachusetts, to bring the colonists 
into submission by force, and for this purpose a fleet 



CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION. 245 

and 10,000 soldiers were sent to America. Boston 
Neck, the only approach to the town by land, was 
fortified, and the military stores at Charlestown and 
Cambridge were brought to the city. 

The general assembly of Massachusetts was pre- 
vented from assembling. But the members-elect or- 
ganized themselves into a provincial congress and 
voted about $90,000 for defense and appointed officers 
to muster the militia of the province. One-fourth of 
this militia were ordered to be ready at a minute's 
notice, and hence were called "Minute men." 

So affairs stood in the spring of 1775. Argument 
and entreaty, expostulation and defiance, have been 
tried in vain. The contest for liberty must be decided 
by arms and the priceless gift sealed with blood. 



246 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



THEREVOLUTION 1775. 

Paul Revere's ride — The battles of Lexington and Concord — Ef- 
fect on the country — Israel Putnam — Ethan Allen captures 
Ticonderoga — The battle of Bunker Hill — The Americans re- 
treat — Congress — Washington elected commander-in-chief — 
Sketch of his life — Assumes command — The Virginia patri- 
ots — Northern expeditions — Montgomery captures Montreal — 
Benedict Arnold's march — Assault on Quebec — Montgomery 
killed — Arnold is wounded and withdraws — The Americans 
driven from Canada. 

General Gage, learning that some of the colony's 

ammunition was 
concealed at Con- 
cord, sixteen miles 
from Boston, on the 
night of April i8, 
1775, dispatched a 
force of 800 men, 
under Colonel 
Smith, to destroy 
the stores. The 
patriots discovered 
his intention. From 
the tower of the 
Old North church 
shone the signal- 
light that had been 
agreed o n . -Paul 
Revere and Will- 
iam Dawes set off 
by different routes to alarm the militia. By hard rid- 




LANTERN IN OLD NORTH CHURCH GIVING NOTICE 
TO PAUL REVERE. 



THE RE VO L U TION— 1775- 



247 



ing the country was aroused. It was still dark on 
the morning of April 19th when the minute-men as- 
sembled on the green at Lexington. But as the Brit- 
ish failed to appear they dispersed. 

At 5 o'clock they met once more, less than seventy 
in number, under Captain Parker, when the advance 
body of the enemy, under Major Pitcairn, came in 
sight. As the British drew near Pitcairn exclaimed: 
" Disperse, ye villains! ye rebels, disperse!" The pa- 







PUTNAM LEAVES FARMING KOR FIGHTING 



triots kept their ranks. Pitcairn discharged his pis- 
tol and gave the command, " Fire!" A murderous 
volley, the first of the Revolution, poured upon the 
Americans, and after firing a few shots, which did lit- 
tle or no damage, they were forced to disperse before 
the superior numbers of the British. Seven of their 
comrades were killed and nine wounded. Such was 
the result of the battle of Lexington. 

The British proceeded to Concord, but the Ameri- 



248 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

cans had removed most of their stores and the enemy 
accomplished little in the way of destruction. Mean- 
while the minute-men were assembling, and finally a 
contest arose between the forces for the possession of 
a bridge over the Concord River, in which the Ameri- 
cans were successful, and two of the enemy were 
killed. The enemybegan their retreat, but the minute- 
men, gathering from every side, kept up a fire for six 
miles along their route from behind trees, fences, and 
any shelter that offered. Only the arrival of re-en- 
forcements prevented utter rout. The result of the 
battle of Concord and the running fight on the retreat 
was for the Americans 49 killed, 34 wounded, and 5 
missing, and for the British 273 in killed, wounded, 
and missing — a greater loss than they had suffered in 
the battle before Quebec, when Wolfe lost his life. 

This fight was like an electric shock to the country. 
The militia from all quarters hastened to the neigh- 
borhood of Boston. Intrenchments were drawn from 
Roxbury to Chelsea, and 20,000 men filled them. 
John Stark came from New Hampshire, Nathaniel 
Greene from Rhode Island, Benedict Arnold from 
New Haven, each with brave men at his back. Israel 
Putnam, when he heard the news, dropped on the in- 
stant his farm-work, and without waiting to change 
his clothing, rode 100 miles in eighteen hours to reach 
the scene of action. " Old Put," as he was familiarly 
called, had already distinguished himself in the French 
and Indian War, and his youthful feat of successfully 
braving a fierce wolf in her den will always be re- 
membered. 

Meanwhile a company of less than 300 men at Ben- 
nington had chosen Ethan Allen, of Vermont, for their 
colonel, and meditated an attack on Ticonderoga. 
Benedict Arnold joined the expedition as a private, 
and on May 9th the force had reached, undiscovered, 
the shores of Lake Champlain opposite the fort By 



THE RE VOL UTION—i 775- 



249 



the time light dawned on the next morning eighty- 
three men had crossed. With Allen and Arnold at 
their head they gained with a rush the entrance to 
the fort. Allen demanded from the commandant its 
instant surrender. " By whose authority?" asked that 
officer. "In the name of the Great Jehovah and the 
Continental Congress!" replied Allen. The garrison 
numbered only forty-eight men. They surrendered. 



Ja..Aika 




rUTNAM ENTERING THE WOLF S DEN. 



By the result of this brilliant exploit, a strong fort that 
had cost ;^8,ooo,ooo, 120 cannon, and large quantities 
of military munitions and stores fell into the hands 
of the Americans. Two days afterward Crown Point 
was secured. 

To return to Boston. On the 25th of May Generals 
Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne reached that city, 



250 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

bringing soldiers with them. The British forces now 
numbered more than 10,000 men. Gage issued a 
proclamation offering pardon to ail the rebels, pro- 
vided they would lay down their arms, excepting 
only Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who by their 
earnest efforts in the cause of liberty had made them- 
selves specially conspicuous. The Americans, fearing 
that the British with their increased force would de- 
scend on the surrounding country, determined to pre- 
vent such an event by fortify ing Bunker Hill, in Charles- 
town. Colonel Prescott was sent with 1,000 men to ac- 
complish this purpose. On the night of the i6th of 
June he reached the spot, but chose Breed's Hill for 
the fortification as a more advantageous position. 
All night the men worked, and when the sun rose on 
the 17th the British were surprised to see their re- 
doubt. 

The enemy saw the necessity of capturing at once 
a position which commanded the city. A cannonade 
from the ships and a battery in Boston was com- 
menced, but did little injury. In the early part of 
the afternoon 3,000 regulars, under the command of 
Howe and Pigot, crossed to Charlestown, intending 
to take by storm the redoubt, that was defended only 
by 1,500 provincials, worn out by their labor. But 
the spirit of the Americans was strong, and Putnam 
and Warren, having volunteered as privates, were 
among them. 

At 3 o'clock the British advanced in column, while 
a fierce cannonade was directed on the works. The pro- 
vincials waited till the British regulars were within 150 
feet, and then poured such a heavy and well-directed 
fire upon the enemy that they recoiled and soon re- 
treated. Again the British cliarged, amid the smoke 
of burning Charlestown, lo which they had applied 
the torch, and again were driven back by a murder- 
ous fire. 



THE REVOLUTION—!']']^. 



251 



Now the fleet was brought into a position where its 
guns could command the inside of the redoubt, and 
the British a third time advanced with fixed bayonets. 
The Americans fired their few remaining rounds of 
ammunition, and then, as the enemy crossed the ram- 
parts, clubbed their muskets and fought with desper- 
ation. But the advantages were now with the British, 
and the patriots were obliged to withdraw. Under 
the lead of Prescott and Putnam they retired to Pros- 
pect Hill, where 
a new line of in- 
trenchmen t s 
was formed. 
One hundred 
and forty-five of 
the Americans, 
among the for- 
mer the gallant 
Warren, were 
killed or miss- 
ing, and 304 
wounded. The 
British lost 
1,054 in killed 
and wounded.* 

It was true 
that the battle 
of Bunker Hill 
had resulted in 

the British gaining the desired position, but it was 
a success attended with such loss, and the pro- 
vincial troops had proven themselves so efficient 
against even trained veterans, that the people were 
encouraged rather than disheartened. As the news 
spread through the colonies the Americans were 
aroused to a more determined spirit, and some of the 
citizens of North Carolina even proclaimed their in- 
dependence. 




ISRAEL PUTNAM. 



252 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

On the very day (the loth of May) that Allen had 
invoked its name in the capture of Ticonderoga, the 
Congress assembled at Philadelphia. John Hancock 
was its president, and among its members were 
Washington, Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Franklin, and 
John and Samuel Adams. A final address was pre- 
pared to George HI. declaring that the Americans 
preferred even war to slavery. Then the subject of 
defense was discussed, and John Adams, in an elo- 
quent speech, nominated Washington as the com- 
mander-in-chief of the colonial armies. On June 15th 
his name was unanimously confirmed. 

The position to which George Washington was 
called was a most trying one, but he had already 
shown himself to be a man cast in a heroic mold. 
Born in Virginia on the 22d of February, 1732, he 
was bereft of his father in boyhood and left to the 
care of a gifted mother. His education in most re- 
spects had been an ordinary one, but he studied and 
practiced surveying. Fond of out-door exercises and 
military life, he was dignified in demeanor, of sound 
judgment and unblemished reputation. His expe- 
rience in surveying in the wilderness had rendered 
him well fitted to perform the difficult journey which 
he made just before the outbreak of th^ French and 
Indian War, and he naturally played a leading part 
in Braddock's campaign, when he gained fresh lau- 
rels. Subsequently he was a member of the Virginia 
legislature and later of the Colonial Congress, 

Washington accepted the office to which he had 
been elected, refusing all pay beyond his expenses, 
and set out at once for Cambridge, where he arrived 
on July 2d, and under an old elm-tree assumed com- 
mand of the army. He was fully aware of the re- 
sponsibility of his office. Congress had indeed voted 
to raise an army of 20,000 men, but the means to 
equip them it did not possess. Independence had not 



THE REVOLUTION— I-JTS- 



253 



been declared, and for half a year the king's reply to 
their address was delayed. 

Washington assumed the command of a force of 
14,500 men, undisciplined and poorly armed. Heat 
once set about organizing his force and disposing it ad- 
vantageously. The right wing, tinder General Ward, 
rested at Roxbury, the left, under General Charles 
Lee, at Prospect Hill, near Charlestown Neck, and 
Washington, with the center, lay at Cambridge. 
Boston was be- 
sieged. 

Meanwhile the 
various colonies 
were aroused 
against the king's 
officers. The roy- 
al governors 
were forced to 
resign, were driv- 
en away, or took 
the popular side. 
Governor Dun- 
more, of Virgin- 
ia, seized the 
powder of the 
colony, but was 
forced to pay for 
it by the people 
under the lead- 
ership of Patrick Henry. Then Dunmore raised a 
force of loyalists, and was defeated by the colonists at 
Great Bridge, near Norfolk. Before he left the coun- 
try he burned that city. 

In the fall a campaign was directed against Canada, 
to gain possession of the country or assist the Cana- 
dians in espousing the cause of the southern colonies. 
The assistance of Canada was strongly hoped for. 




THE OLD ELM-TREE AT CAMBRIDGE. 



254 



HISTOR V OF THE UNITED STA TES. 



Generals Schuyler and Montgomery, proceeding by 
way of Lake Champlain, reached St. John on Septem- 
ber loth, but finding the place too strong fell back to 
Isle-aux-Noix, in the Sorrel River. Schuyler, return- 
ing to Ticonderoga for re-enforcements, was taken 
sick and Montgomery assumed command. Advancing 
again on St. John he captured that place, took Fort 
Chambly, and on the 13th of November forced Mont- 
real to capitulate. His army was now reduced to 
300 men by the necessity of garrisoning the places he 
had taken. With these, however, he advanced toward 
Quebec. 

In the meantime Colonel Benedict Arnold had set 
out on a march from Cambridge, by way of the Kene- 
bec and thence through the wilderness, toward the 
same c\ty. He started with 1,000 men, among whom 
were Morgan, Greene, Meigs, and Aaron Burr — all 
destined to occjpy prominent positions, some glori- 
ous, one the reverse, in their country's history. After 
a march of the most extreme suffering, during which 
the troops were forced by threatened starvation to 
live on dog's-meat and gnaw their moccasins of 
moose-skin, they reached Quebec. 

Arnold's force was not strong enough to warrant an 
attack on the city. He therefore withdrew twenty 
miles up the river, where Montgomery joined him, 
took command, and descended to Quebec. With on- 
ly 900 men Montgomery, for three weeks, besieged a 
city strongly fortified and defended by a superior 
force. Then he determined to attempt an assault. 

Before light on the 31st of December Montgomery 
led part of the army to attack the Lower Town near 
the citadel. Arnold conducted another column, by 
way of the St. Charles River, to unite with Mont- 
gomery and storm Prescott Gate. The remainder of 
the army remained, to draw the attention of the gar- 
rison. 



THE REVOLUTION— \T]S. 



255 



A battery confronted Montgomery, but it was be- 
lieved that the assaulting party had not been seen. 
"Forward!" shouted the leader, and the column ad- 
vanced. Suddenly the battery opened fire with grape- 
shot. Montgomery fell dead. His force was shat- 
tered and obliged to withdraw. Not only did the sol- 
diers mourn their general, but the country shared 




MAP OF THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 



their grief for a man of such superior nature and he- 
roic life as Richard Montgomery, 

Arnold's division fared no better. He fought his 
way bravely into the Lower Town, but was seriously 
wounded and borne to the rear. Some of his men 
continued to advance along the narrow streets till 
they were compelled to surrender. The assault on 
Quebec had failed. 



256 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Arnold finally withdrew the army and retired to a 
point three miles above the city. Though re-enforce- 
ments arrived, another attack was prevented by the 
breaking out of small-pox in his camp. And when 
the. St. Lawrence was clear of ice the garrison of the 
city was strengthened by the arrival of additional 
soldiers from England. Offensive movements were 
begun by the British, and the Americans were 
obliged to retire step by step till, by the middle of the 
next year, they had completely withdrawn from Can- 
ada. 

Thus ended the first year of the Revolution — the 
year of success at Concord, of defeat which was a 
victory at Bunker Hill, and of failure but not disgrace 
at Quebec. 



THE RE VOL U 77 OX— 1 7 -jG—INDEPEXDEXCE. 257 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

THE REVOLUTION — 1 7 76 — INDEPENDENCE. 

The king's answer to Congress — Howe succeeds Gage — The 
Americans fortify Dorchester Heights — The British evacuate 
Boston — Are defeated at Fort Sullivan — Condition of the two 
armies — Congress — Richard Henry Lee's resolution — Jeffer- 
son writes the Declaration of Independence — It is adopted — 
Its nature — How it was received — The British concentrate 
near New York — They endeavor to secure peace — The battle 
of Long Island — The Americans retire to New York — The 
battle of White Plains — Washington retreats across New Jer- 
sey — Crosses the Delaware — General Lee is captured — Wash- 
ington recrosses the Delaware — Surprises and routs the Hes- 
sians — Effect of the victory — Robert Morris. 

The answer of George III. to the Continental Con- 
gress was not calculated to allay the rebellious spirit 
of the Americans. He refused to recognize the au- 
thority of such a body as the Congress, and demanded 
that the army disband; then he would deal with the 
separate colonies in the settlement of disputes. 

At Boston Howe had succeeded Gage in command 
of the British. The Americans still surrounded the 
city, but Washington feared to make a rash attack 
which by its failure would dishearten the country. 
He strengthened the fortifications, and by the end of 
winter thought that an assault might be safely at- 
tempted. His officers, however, preferred another plan, 
and this he adopted. 

Bunker Hill, which commanded Boston on the 
north, was still occupied by the British, but Dor- 
chester Heights, which overlooked the city from the 



258 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

south, had been neglected by the enemy. For two 
days the American batteries by their incessant fire 
engaged the attention of the British, and on the 
night of March 4th General Thomas was sent to oc- 
cupy the heights. Through the hours of darkness 
the patriots labored with energy, and the next morn- 
ing Howe was surprised and chagrined to find his 
position commanded by the American cannon. 

He immediately dispatched a force to storm the 
intrenchments. The British reached Castle Island, 
in the harbor, and it was expected that they would 
soon land and attack the heights. Washington went 
among the men and found them courageous and de- 
termined. But their valor was not put to the proof. 
A storm arose that prevented the transportation of 
the British on that day, and by the next morning the 
American works were too strong to be attacked. 

Negotiations were now entered into between Wash- 
ington and Howe for the evacuation of Boston. It 
was arranged that the British should leave unharmed, 
provided the city should not be burned. 

On March 17th the king's army embarked on the 
fleet and sailed for Halifax. Fifteen hundred persons 
of royalist feelings accompanied them. On the 20th 
Washmgton formally occupied the city. The coun- 
try was overjoyed, and Congress passed a unanimous 
resolution of thanks to Washington and struck off a 
gold medal for him in honor of his success. 

While the siege of Boston was still in progress 
Washington had sent General Lee, with the Connecti- 
cut militia, to New York to prevent a suspected at- 
tack on that city by an expedition from Boston under 
Sir Henry Clinton. Lee reached New York just before 
Clinton, who at once sailed southward. Lee also pro- 
ceeded in the same direction. 

Clinton, joined by Sir Peter Parker with another 
fleet and Lord Cornwallis with 2,500 men, reached 



THE RE VOL UTION—\ ']'](i— INDEPENDENCE. 259 

Charleston in the early part of June, and landed a 
force on Long Island, near Fort Sullivan, which, situ- 
ated on Sullivan's Island, protected the harbor. On 
June 28th an attack on the fort was commenced by a 
bombardment. Four hundred provincials defended 
it under Colonel Moultrie. 

Several of the British vessels were stranded. A 
body of troops, attempting to attack the position from 
the rear, were repulsed by riflemen. The cannonade 
from the fleet was fierce, but the balls sunk into the 
soft palmetto logs of the fort without splintering 
them, while the guns of the Americans were carefully 
aimed and did great damage. The provincials fought 
with energy. At one time their flag-staff was shot 
away by a 'ball, but Sergeant Jasper leaped outside 
the ramparts and replaced it at the peril of his life. 
Finally, as darkness approached the British drew off, 
and soon after sailed for New York. Their fleet was 
badly shattered and they had lost 200 men, among 
them the royal governor of South Carolina, Lord 
Campbell. Sir Peter Parker was wounded. The 
Americans had lost but thirty-two in killed and 
wounded. In honor of their gallant commander, Fort 
Sullivan was renamed Fort Moultrie. 

The army under Washington had been increased 
nominally to about 27,000 men, but from sickness and 
the expiration of terms of enlistment his fighting 
force was much smaller. Great Britain meanwhile 
had raised 25,000 more English soldiers and voted a 
large sum of money for the prosecution of the war. 
Worse still, George III. had hired 17,000 Hessians in 
Germany to fight his battles. 

It was hot till this time that the Americans became 
united in their desire for independence, but now all 
hope seemed lost of a reconciliation with England. 
The Virginia legislature recommended that Congress 
proclaim independence. 



26o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

It was on the yth of June, 1776, that Richard Henry 
Lee, of Virginia, moved in Congress the adoption of a 
resolution declaring that the ''United Colonies are, 
and of right ought to be, free and independent states." 
After a discussion of some days the final debate was 
postponed till July ist. In the meantime a committee 
of five was appointed to draft a more formal declara- 
tion. Lee was prevented by sickness from participat- 
ing in the labors of this committee, and Thomas Jeffer- 
son, his colleague, was therefore made chairman. The 
other members were John Adams, of Massachusetts; 
Roger Sherman, of Connecticut; Robert R. Living- 
ston, of New York; and Benjamin Franklin, of Penn- 
sylvania. 

The work of preparing the document fell to Jeffer- 
son. It was presented as he wrote it, with a few 
unimportant changes by Adams and Franklin. On 
July ist the consideration of Lee's motion and the 
report of the committee were taken up. The next 
day Lee's resolution was carried. On the 3d the re- 
port of the committee was vigorously debated, and on 
July 4th, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the Conti- 
nental Congress, without a dissenting vote, adopted 
the Declaration of Independence. 

The effect of this wonderful document on the world 
will never be lost nor its principles forgotten. It laid 
down the general maxims that all men are created 
equal and possess a natural right to life, liberty, and 
the pursuit of happiness, and that the people ought 
to alter their government when it becomes subversive 
of these ends. It then proceeded to recite the griev- 
ances of the colonists against the British government, 
and it was a clear deduction, from the long record of 
despotic acts, of appeals disregarded and tyranny in- 
creased, that " these United Colonies are, and of right 
ought to be, free and independent states." Such was 
the document signed by the representatives of the 



THE RE VOL U TIVN— 1 7 fb—'INDETENDENCE. 2 6 1 



thirteen colonies, who pledged for its support their 
lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. 

The declaration was received with enthusiasm by 
the entire country from the moment when the old 
bellman in the state-house at Philadelphia rang out 
the news for which he had stood waiting all the day. 
Messengers hastened to spread the action of Congress 
through the colonies. Everywhere the people re- 
joiced. In New York the leaden statue of the king 
was melted into bul- 
lets for the patriot 
army, and Washing- 
ton ordered the dec- 
laration to bd read in 
the presence of every 
brigade. 

General Howe re- 
mained at Halifax for 
some time, but early 
in July, sailing south- 
ward, he landed with 
9,000 men on Staten 
Island. There he was 
joined by Clinton 
from the south, and 
by his brother, Ad- hbertv bell. 

miral Howe, from 

England. His force now numbered 30,000 men, nearly 
half of whom were Hessians. Washington, having 
strengthened Boston, had also come to New York 
with the body of his army, but his force was far from 
equal to the British in numbers, arms, or discipline. 

Lord Howe, the admiral, had been commissioned 
to conciliate the Americans if possible. He sent a 
letter to the commander-in-chief of the American 
army, addressed to " George Washington, Esquire." 
Washington very properly refused to receive a com- 




262 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

munication in which the dignity of his office, not him- 
self, was insulted. And he was not to be snared by 
another letter directed to "George Washington, etc., 
etc., etc.," which the messenger explained might imply 
his proper title. Howe possessed little more power 
than to grant pardons, which Washington saw no use 
for. The colonies were independent and would fight 
for liberty. 

The British now determined on an active campaign. 
On the 22d of August 10,000 soldiers were landed on 
Long Island near New Utrecht. The Americans who 
defended Brooklyn numbered only 8,000. Generals 
Sullivan and Sterling were in command. 

On the 27th the British advanced in three columns 
by different routes. General Grant attacked Stirling 
on the hill that is now within Greenwood Cemetery, 
but without a decisive result for either side. General 
Heister led the Hessians against the main body of the 
Americans, under Sullivan, in the neighborhood of 
Flatbush. For some time the Hessians were kept 
at bay, but finally Clinton, who had passed around to 
the Jamaica road, fell unexpectedly on the left flank 
and rear of the Americans. Putnam had been sent 
over from New York to take command, but he had 
failed to guard his flank properly. The patriots were 
surrounded but fought bravely, and many of them 
escaped. The remainder were killed or captured. 

Cornwallis proceeded to cut off Stirling's retreat, 
but for a while the British were repulsed and most of 
the patriots rejoined their comrades, though many 
Were drowned or captured at Gowanus Creek. 

Washington had arrived at the scene of battle be- 
fore the contest was finished, but he could do nothing 
to retrieve the defeat. Nearly 1,000 of his army were 
dead or bleeding or in the hands of the enemy. Gen- 
erals Sullivan, Stirling, and Woodhull were among the 
prisoners. The British had not lost over 400 men, 



THE REVOLUTION— \-]it— INDEPENDENCE. 263 

and it would have been easy for them to have utterly- 
routed or captured the shattered Americans. 

But Washington drew his forces together and wait- 
ed in his intrenchments, and the enemy did not fol- 
low up their victory. On the next day^ the 28th, they 
were also inactive. Their delay proved ruinous to 
their success, for on the 29th a heavy fog concealed 
the movements of the Americans from view, and 
Washington, knowing that it would be impossible to 
hold his position, determined to retire to New York. 
Every boat that could be procured was lying ready 
when evening came, and during the darkness of night, 
with muffled oars, the transports plied across the East 
River, bearing the patriots to safety. The enemy 
did not discover the movement till the last boat-load 
was leaving at daylight the next morning. Their 
prey had escaped by a most masterly retreat. 

But Washington's perils were not over. His soldiers 
were discouraged, and when their periods of enlist- 
ment expired many of them returned home and others 
deserted. Moreover, the British fleet was now within 
cannon-shot of the city. Washington called a council 
of war and retired to Harlem Heights. On Septem- 
ber 15th the British crossed, took possession of the 
city, and drew their lines from river to river to the 
south of the American intrenchments. Howe thought 
the position of affairs favorable for procuring peace 
and made overtures to Congress, but he received little 
satisfaction from that determined body. 

On September i6th a skirmish occurred in which 
the Americans, with a loss of about fifty, gained the 
advantage over the British, who lost 100 men. A 
month later Howe embarked his forces and landed 
near Westchester, at the entrance to Long Island 
Sound. His object was to cut off Washington's 
army from New England. But the American com- 
mander marched his troops across the Harlem River 



264 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

and confronted the British. For several days the 
armies changed their positions, till on the 28th of 
October they found themselves at White Plains, 
where a battle was fought. The Americans were 
forced backward, but made frequent stands against 
the enemy, and at night Washington retired to the 
heights of North Castle. Howe, a few days later, re- 
turned to New York. 

Washington, fearing that the British would advance 
on Philadelphia, now crossed the Hudson to Fort 
Lee, leaving General Lee at North Castle and Col- 
onel Magaw at Fort Washington. It was the able con- 
struction of the latter post, situated on the upper end 
of Manhattan Island, that made Washington acquaint- 
ed with its engineer, Alexander Hamilton, at that 
time only twenty years of age. 

The British attacked Fort Washington November 
i6th, and though Colonel Magaw made a gallant de- 
fense, he was forced by superior numbers to capitu- 
late. Over 2,000 men were made prisoners of war. 
On the 1 8th Cornwallis crossed the Hudson and ad- 
vanced against Fort Lee with 6,000 men. Washing- 
ton could not hope to contend against this force and 
withdrew beyond the Hackensack, leaving Fort Lee 
with the military stores of the army, in the hands of 
the British. 

Now began a retreat across New Jersey. With 
3,000 men Washington retired in succession to New- 
ark, to Elizabethtown, to New Brunswick, to Prince- 
ton, and at last reached Trenton, on the Delaware, 
the British and Hessians, under Cornwallis and Knyp- 
hausen, all the while in close pursuit. On Decem- 
ber 8th Washington crossed the Delaware, and only 
prevented the enemy from following by securing or 
destroying every boat for miles along the stream. 
Cornwallis waited for the river to freeze and mean- 
while stationed his men at various points. Congress, 



THE RE VOL U TION— 1 7 -^t— INDEPENDENCE. 265 

not daring to hope that Philadelphia could be de- 
fended when the British should cross the river, ad- 
journed to Baltimore, and on December 20th gave 




Washington the absolute power of a dictator to prose- 
cute the war. 

In the meantime Admiral Parker had succeeded in 



266 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

blockading the American fleet, under Commander 
Hopkins, in the Blackstone River, in Rhode Island. 
About the same time General Lee was captured near 
Morristown while marching to join Washington. He 
was a proud and self-willed man and had delayed a 
long while before following Washington's repeated 
orders. The command of his force was now assumed 
by Sullivan, who had been exchanged, and that gen- 
eral joined Washington at once. With other addi- 
tions, the American army on the Delaware now num- 
bered about 6,000 men. 

The opportunity for which Washington had waited 
came at length. Cornvvallis, thinking that the anni- 
hilation of the American army was only a question of 
days, had left the army under the command of Grant 
and was preparing to return on a visit to England. 
The Hessians were scattered in various towns. On 
Christmas Day they would hold high revel, and that 
night was selected for the attack. 

Washington had planned to cross the river in three 
divisions, but when the night of the 25th came the 
Delaware was filled with floating masses of ice, and 
only his own division succeeded in reaching the east- 
ern side through the bitter cold and a fierce storm. 
Sullivan and Greene, with 2,400 men, were with him. 
It was 3 o'clock in the morning before they accom- 
plished the passage and landed a few miles above 
Trenton, the object of their attack. Washington and 
Greene led part of the force aroun.d by the Princeton 
road, and Sullivan kept along the river. It was 8 
on the morning of the 26tli when the Americans en- 
tered the town from two directions, but they had cal- 
culated on the Hessians sleeping late after their ca- 
rousals. The enemy were completely surprised. Their 
commander, Colonel Rail, was mortally wounded. 
The soldiers attempted to form their ranl^s, but about 
fifty of them were killed by the fire of the Americans 



THE REVODUTION—i-j-jd— INDEPENDENCE, 267 

and the rest threw down their arms and cried for 
quarter. A few of the enemy had succeeded in escap- 
ing, but the Americans captured nearly 1,000, with six 
cannon and 1,200 small-arms. Washington dared not 
stay in Trenton, and retired the same day to the west- 
ern bank of the Delaware with his prisoners. 

This brilliant exploit infused fresh courage into the 
desponding country. Scldiers gathered in increased 
numbers to the American standard. Many whose 
terms of enlistment were about to expire re-enlisted. 
Robert Morris, of Philadelphia, a merchant of large 
fortune, gave and raised much money, which was sorely 
needed by the impoverished army. Washington soon 
recrossed the- Delaware and stationed himself at 
Trenton. On the other hand, the British were thun- 
derstruck and discouraged. Cornwallis gave up his 
trip to England and returned to his command and 
assembled his forces at Princeton. 

The year of independence had been one of much 
discouragement. The evacuation of Boston in the 
north and the defense of Charleston in the south 
had been followed by the disastrous battle of Long 
Island and the retreat of Washington from the Hud- 
son to the Delaware. But it closed with the renewed 
hope that was caused by Washington's splendid gen- 
eralship. 



268 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

. THE REVOLUTION — 1777- 

Washington outgenerals Cornwallis — Defeats the British at Prince- 
ton — Minor engagements — Meigs surprises the British at Sag 
Harbor — The British withdraw from New Jersey — The British 
general Prescott captured — Congress — Attitude of France — 
Lafayette — De Kalb, Kosciusko, Pulaski, and Steuben — Bur- 
goyne's expedition — The Americans abandon Ticonderoga— 
Repulse the British at Hubbardton — The battle of Benning- 
ton — St. Leger in the Mohawk valley — Fort Schuyler saved 
to the Americans — Gates succeeds Schuyler — Bemis' Heights 
fortified — A battle fought — Clinton's expedition up the Hud- 
son — Burgoyne defeated — Surrenders — Howe moves on Phil- 
adelphia — Opposed by Washington — The battle of the Brandy- 
wine — The Americans defeated — Maneuvering — The British 
occupy Philadelphia — They are unsuccessfully attacked at Ger- 
mantown — Forts Mercer and Mifflin captured by the British — 
Valley Forge — Intrigues against Washington. 

On January 2, 1777, Cornwallis advanced from 
Princeton with a large force, and skirmishing fol- 
lowed between the armies. Washington left Trenton 
and crossed Assanpink Creek, which he was able to 
prevent the British from passing. 

Night now closed in. Retreat or defeat would be 
ruinous to the American cause. Success could hardly 
be hoped for against the superior numbers of the en- 
emy. In this crisis Washington determined on anoth- 
er of his flank movements. Leaving a guard to keep 
the camp-fires burning, he passed around the British 
army and by a circuitous march reached Princeton. 
As light dawned on January 3d Cornwallis heard the 
American cannon thirteen miles in his rear. "Wash- 
ington has outgeneraled us!" he exclaimed. 



THE REVOLUTION— I']']']. 269 

As the Americans drew near Princeton they met a 
body of the enemy leaving to re-enforce Cornwallis, 
and the fight began at once. The Americans, under 
General Mercer, took an advantageous position be- 
hind a fence and poured a deadly fire into the ene- 
my's ranks. They had no bayonets, however, and 
when the British charged they gave way and Mercer 
was mortally wounded. Washington now arrived 
opportunely with fresh troops, rallied the men, 
and rode into the very thick of the fight, within 
thirty yards of the enemy's lines. At that moment a 
volley was fired from both sides. Washington's aid- 
de-camp drew his hat over his eyes, that he might not 
see his leader fall. But as the smoke lifted the com- 
mander-in-chief was seen to be^uninjured. "The day 
is ours!" he cried. The British were broken and flying. 
It was only by discipline and great valor that they 
were able to retreat. But they lost in killed, wound- 
ed, and missing 430 men, while the American loss was 
trifling. 

Washington desired to advance to New Brunswick, 
where quantities of British stores were collected, but 
his men were too much fatigued with the march and 
the battle, and Cornwallis was approaching. The 
American general therefore retired to Morristown. 
His success had roused the patriots of New Jersey, 
already exasperated by the excesses of the British 
and Hessians, and the militia harassed the enemy on 
every hand. Cornwallis abandoned one post after 
another, till soon he held only New Brunswick and 
Amboy. 

For some months now there were no large battles, 
but several minor engagements occurred in various 
quarters. Early in the spring McDougal, in charge 
of the American stores at Peekskill, was forced to 
blow up the magazine and retire before a fleet sent 
up the Hudson by General Howe. On April 13th 



270 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



General Lincoln was surprised at Boundbrook, on the 
Raritan, and forced backward with a small loss. On 
the 25th General Tryon burned Danbury, Connecti- 
cut, and demolished the American stores collected 
there. But on his way to the coast he was assailed 
by the patriots, under the lead of Wooster and 
Arnold, and lost 200 men. The American loss .was 
about sixty, but Wooster was among the killed. 

On the night of May 22d Colonel Meigs, of Con- 
necticut, transported a force of Americans across the 
Sound in whale-boats and surprised the British at 
Sag Harbor. He burned an armed vessel and a num- 
ber of transports of the enemy, destroyed their stores, 
and returned to Connecticut with ninety prisoners, 
without the loss of a naan. For this exploit Congress 
gave him a handsome sword. 

Meanwhile Washington remained at Morristown. 
In the latter part of May he broke up winter quarters 
and stationed himself at Boundbrook to watch the 
enemy. Howe joined Cornwallis at Brunswick, and, 
by a feint, endeavored to take Washington from his 
strong position. Finding his attempt unsuccessful 
he withdrew, and Washington advanced to Quibble- 
town. There he was suddenly attacked by Howe on 
the night of June 25th, and without great loss he re- 
tired to Boundbrook. Finally the British retired, 
and on the last day of June, crossing to Staten Island, 
withdrew completely from New Jersey. 

'On the night of July loth Colonel Barton succeeded 
in capturing, near Newport, General Prescott, of the 
British army. For the success of his exploit, which 
gave the Americans an officer of equal rank to be ex- 
changed lor General Lee, Barton was promoted and 
presented with a sword. 

Congress was now in session again at Philadelphia, 
and though its power was not complete over the 
action of the separate states, it did much to strengthen 



THE RE VOL U TION— 1777, 



271 



ihe army and the patriots' cause. France, too, was com- 
ingto the rescue. The French government would not do 
anything officially to provoke a conflict with England, 
but much was done in a quiet way. During this year 
arms and ammunition were obtained from France in 
considerable quantities, and better than all, there came 
a man to assist in the struggle for freedom whose 
name has ever been held most dear to this people. 
The Marquis de Lafayette was a young nobleman, 
not yet twenty 3^ears of age; but his heart went out 
to the nation that was bat- 
tling against tyranny. He 
wished to assist them, but 
the king would not grant 
permission and the British 
minister protested. Noth- 
ing daunted. Lafayette fit- 
ted out a vessel at his own 
expense, left his home and 
his newly married wife, 
eluded the officers sent to 
detain him, and succeeded 
in reaching our shores in 
April, 1777. He offered his 
services to Congress as a 
volunteer without pay and 
entered the army, but he was soon commissioned a 
major-general. Between him and Washington there 
soon began the intimate friendship that was ever un- 
broken. 

Baron de Kalb came with Lafayette — an experienced 
French officer. Kosciusko, a Polish nobleman, had 
already come to aid the Americans, and in this year 
Count Pulaski, of the same nation, also arrived. All 
of these received commissions in the American army 
and did great service for the cause. In the fall Baron 
Steuben, a veteran Prussian officer, arrived, and be- 




MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 



2 72 HIS TOR V OF THE UNI TED S TA TES. 

ing made inspector-general, did much to perfect the 
discipline of the army. 

During the spring Lieutenant-General Burgoyne, 
commander of the English forces in Canada, had been 
preparing for a campaign, which proved to be one of 
the most important events of the whole war. His plan 
was to march by way of Lake Champlain, descend the 
Hudson, and join the main body of the British army 
in New York, thus cutting off New England from the 
rest of the country. By the beginning of summer he 
was at the foot of Lake Champlain with about 10,000 
men, the majority of whom were English or Hessians, 
and about 3,000 Canadians and Indians. 

He occupied Crown Point, which was undefended, 
and then advanced on Ticonderoga, which was gar- 
risoned by 3,000 men, under General St. Clair. The 
British occupied an advantageous position and St. 
Clair saw the hopelessness of attempting to defend 
the fort. He therefore abandoned the place on the 
night of July 5th. The English pursued, and two 
days later came up with the rear guard of the Amer- 
icans at Hubbardton, seventeen miles from Ticon- 
deroga. There the pursuit was checked by a sharp 
engagement, and the patriots continued their march. 
The next day the British succeeded in capturing at 
Whitehall a considerable quantity of stores and pro- 
visions. 

St. Clair joined General Schuyler, who commanded 
the army of the north, at Fort Edward. The Ameri- 
can forces, less than 5,000 in number, were thought 
too small to withstand Burgoyne, and Schuyler there- 
fore withdrew to the mouth of the Mohawk. Bur- 
goyne reached Fort Edward on July 30th. His pro- 
visions were running short, and he dispatched 500 
men, under Colonel Baum, to capture the provin- 
cial stores at Bennington. This force encountered 
Colonel Stark and the New Hampshire militia on 



THE REVOLUTION— i-jll. 273 

August i6th, and after a fierce engagement were de- 
feated. Hessian re-enforcements, under Breymann, 
were routed by the Green Mountain Boys, under 
Colonel Warren, and the victory was won. The Ameri- 
can loss was about seventy. The British lost twice 
as many in killed and wounded, besides nearly 700 
prisoners. The effect of this battle greatly cheered 
the hearts of the people. 

Meanwhile success was attending the American 
cause in another quarter. Before Burgoyne had left 
Canada he had sent Lieutenant-Colonel St. Leger 
against Fort Schuyler, now the city of Rome. His 
force consisted of Canadians, Indians, and Tories, as 
the royalist people of the provinces came to be called. 
Fort Schuyler was garrisoned by a small body of 
militia, under Lieutenant-Colonel Gansevoort. St. 
Leger surrounded the fort on August 3d. General 
Herkimer raised a force of militia and advanced to 
the rescue, but falling into an ambuscade was de- 
feated with considerable loss. The garrison, how- 
ever, were more fortunate. They made a successful 
sally, and hearing of Herkimer's repulse returned 
with their prisoners. Meanwhile the daring Arnold 
had volunteered to lead a force to the rescue. By 
a strategy he gave St. Leger a false idea of his 
strength, and at his approach the British and Indians 
raised the siege and retired. Fort Schuyler remained 
in the possession of the patriots. 

The prospect now seemed brighter for the main 
body of the army, which was watching Burgoyne. 
General Gates had taken the place of Schuyler, 
Washington had sent re-enforcements, Lincoln had 
led the New England militia, and Morgan had brought 
his riflemen. The American army of the north num- 
bered more than 9,000 men. General Gates moved 
up the river to Stillwater, and Bemis' Heights, just 
north of this place, were fortified under Kosciusko's 



2 74 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

supervision. Burgoyne now crossed the Hudson to 
Saratoga and gradually advanced his lines. On the 
19th of September a battle was fought between part of 
the forces, which each side claimed as a victory. At 
night the Americans withdrew to their intrenchments 
and the British lay on their arms. Burgoyne had lost 
more men than the Americans and had failed to ac- 
complish his object in driving them from their posi- 
tion. The Americans therefore regarded the battle 
as a victory for the patriot cause. 

Burgoyne's chief hope now lay in General Clinton, 
who commanded at New York. That general sailed 
up the Hudson and carried by storm Fort Clinton 
and Fort Montgomery. A detachment under Colonel 
Vaughan kept on till they reached Kingston, which 
they burned. So far as it went this expedition was 
favorable to the British, and if they had continued at 
once up the river Burgoyne would have been relieved. 
Clinton, however, delayed till it was too late. He 
could boast only of a few posts captured and stores 
destroyed. 

Burgoyne was now in a hazardous situation. The 
American army hemmed him in closer and closer, and 
his provisions were failing fast. He determined to 
risk another battle. All the afternoon of October 7th 
the conflict raged furiously. Morgan's sharpshooters 
killed Fraser, Burgoyne's ablest general, and his men 
lost heart. Arnold dashed into the fray, though he 
had resigned his commission through a quarrel with 
Gates, escaped from the officer sent to recall him, and 
joined his old command, who received him with cheers. 
His impetuosity and energy carried all before him. 
A British stockade was captured, and the Americans 
bore the palm of victory. Arnold was wounded in the 
leg as at Quebec, and after the battle was restored to 
his rank by Congress. The British lost nearly 700 
men. 



THE REVOLUTION— IT]-]. 275 

Burgoyne took another position at once, but the 
Americans followed him. On October 9th he reached 
Saratoga. Escape to Fort Edward w^as cutoff by the 
Americans, who held the river. For a few days, how- 
ever, his brave heart refused to yield. Finally he 
found he had provisions for only three days. No hope 
was left. On the 17th of October he surrendered his 
entire army of 5,791. The Americans were also the 
richer by thirty-five cannon, 4,600 muskets, besides 
ammunition and stores. The prisoners were allowed 
to return to England on condition that they should 
not serve again as soldiers in this war. Such was the 
end of Burgoyne's invasion, of which the British had 
expected so much. They had lost 10,000 men in the 
whole campaign. The American victory inspired the 
country, and was a large factor in securing the open 
assistance of France in the struggle against Great 
Britain. 

While the events we have narrated were occurring 
in the north, an active campaign was being carried 
on by Washington and Howe. We have seen how 
the British retired from New Jersey, but they had by 
no means given up the attempt to capture Philadel- 
phia. In the latter part of July Howe embarked with 
18,000 men to attack that city by way of the Dela- 
ware, but on learning that the Americans had ob- 
structed his passage in that direction he sailed up the 
Chesapeake. Washington meanwhile had marched 
southward and had gathered about 11,000 or 12,000 
men at Wilmington. 

In the latter part of August Howe landed in the 
northeastern part of Maryland and commenced his 
march against Philadelphia. Washington, despite 
the superior force of the enemy, hoped to save the 
capital by a defensive campaign. He took his stand 
on the eastern side of the Brandywine, a river that 
flows into the Delaware. On September nth the 



276 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

British reached the stream and gave battle. Knyp- 
hausen engaged the attention of the Americans at 
Chad's Ford while Cornwallis and Howe passed up 
the river, crossed, and outflanked Sullivan, who was 
stationed on the American right. The patriots fought 
bravely, but the right wing was broken and the battle 
was lost. One thousand of Washington's army were 
dead, wounded, or captured. The British lost less 
than 600. 

The Americans retreated at once to Westchester, 
and then to Germantown, a few miles north of Phila- 
delphia. In a few days Washington determined to 
venture another battle, and crossing the Schuylkill, met 
Howe at Warren's tavern, twenty miles below Phila- 
delphia, where the armies skirmished. But before a 
battle ensued a fierce storm came up, which wet the 
cartridges and prevented fighting. Howe now pro- 
ceeded down the river toward Philadelphia. Wash- 
ington recrossed the stream to prevent his advance. 
Now, by a feint in the opposite direction, the Ameri- 
can army was drawn away. Howe crossed the river 
and entered Philadelphia on September 26th, and the 
main body of his army was stationed at Germantown. 
General Wayne, meanwhile, had been surprised at 
Paoli and had lost 300 men. 

Congress had already adjourned to Lancaster. 
Meeting at that place on the day after Howe's en- 
trance into the capital, they adjourned once more, 
this time to York, where they remained till the British 
left Philadelphia the next year. 

Washington had encamped at Skippack Creek. 
Finding the enemy weakened at Germantown by 
reason of detachments sent to reduce Forts Mercer 
and Mifflin, he attacked them. On the night of Oc- 
tober 3d he advanced in four divisions and the next 
morning fell upon their camp. But by reason of 
rough roads and fog the attacks were not made si- 



THE REVOLUTION— I-]-]-]. 277 

multaneously, and some of the American commanders 
did not handle their troops effectively. For a while, 
indeed, the patriots seemed successful, but at last they 
were driven back with a loss of 152 killed, 521 
wounded, and 400 missing. The British lost 535 
men. 

The British now determined to obtain possession 
of the Delaware River. Fort Mercer was situated in 
New Jersey seven miles below Philadelphia. Fort 
Mifflin was built on an island opposite. The British 
attack on the former was repulsed. Fort Mififlin was 
also gallantly defended at the first assault and for a 
siege of over three weeks. By that time the cannon 
and the defenses were ruined and the garrison es- 
caped to Fort Mercer. Cornwallis came with re- 
enforcements to attack this post, and the garrison was 
obliged to abandon it on November 20th, thus throw- 
ing the Delaware open to the British. 

Washington meanwhile had encamped at White- 
marsh, twelve miles from Philadelphia. Howe, 
knowing that the Americans were suffering from lack 
of food and clothing, determined to surprise them. 
But his scheme was revealed to Washington by a 
patriot woman, Lydia Darrah, at whose house the 
plan had been formed by the British council of war. 
He was obliged to return to Philadelphia. 

The British passed the winter in the city, reveling 
in excellent quarters and with every comfort. Wash- 
ington led his army into winter quarters at Valley 
Forge, on the Schuylkill, his soldiers as they marched, 
many of them shoeless, tracking the frozen ground 
with bloody foot-prints. Rude cabins were built for 
their shelter and the natural strength of the position 
was increased by intrenchmen:s. 

So closed the year. The battle of Princeton had 
resulted in the evacuation of New Jersey by the 
British and a brilliant success had been gained over 



278 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Burgoyne. But Washington was reproached for a faiK 
ure in the latter half of the year to equal the achieve- 
ments of the northern army. Afterward the diffi- 
culties he had to contend with in opposing a force 
superior to his own in numbers, discipline, and equip- 
ments were better appreciated, and it was seen that 
by the delay he occasioned Howe in reaching Phila- 
delphia he had prevented the sending of re-enforce- 
ments to Burgoyne and consequently had made pos- 
sible the victory in the north. But at the time this 
was not seen with such clearness. Many of the pa- 
triots had lost their confidence in the commander. 
Intrigues were even on foot to put Gates or Lee in 
his place. But the clouds finally blew over and 
Washington stood forth grander than ever. 



THE REVOLUTION— 111%, 279 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

THE REVOLUTION I778. 

Silas Deane, Benjamin Franklin, and Arthur Lee — Sketch of 
Franklin — Alliance with France — Great Britain offers conces- 
sions — Philadelphia evacuated — D'Estaing — The battle of 
Monmouth — Lee's insubordination loses the day — His punish- 
ment — Operations near Newport — The war in the south — Sa- 
vannah captured by the British — The Wyoming and Cherry 
valley massacres — Operations beyond the AUeghanies. 

Even before the colonies had declared themselves 
independent states, measures had been taken to se- 
cure the co-operation of France in their struggle, and 
Silas Deane had been sent as commissioner to that 
country. Louis XVI. and his ministers were inclined 
to favor the American colonies, and notwithstanding 
the opposition of "English agents, considerable quan- 
tities of arms and ammunition were sent across the 
ocean in 1777. In the latter part of 1776 Benjamin 
Franklin and Arthur Lee were selected by Congress 
to arrange a treaty with France, and they proceeded 
at once to Paris. 

Franklin was over seventy years of age. From a 
candle-maker in his father's shop and an apprentice- 
ship in printing with his brother he had risen to be a 
writer, a philosopher, and a man of science. In the 
latter direction he is best known from his experiment 
with the kite, by which he showed that lightning was 
nothing but electricity. He was devoted to the patriot 
cause, and his wisdom, courtesy, and talents procured 
him attention and reflected favorably on his country. 



28o 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



But at first the French government hesitated to 
commit itself to an alliance with the American colo- 
nies. That meant war with England. At last, how- 
ever, came the news of Burgoyne's surrender. The 
colonies had shown their strength, and to lend aid to 
them would res.ult in a great gain to French trade. 
The mission of Franklin and Lee was successful. A 
treaty of commerce and alliance was drawn up, ac- 
knowledging the inde- 
pendence of the United 
States and promising 
mutual support. Con- 
gress ratified the trea- 
ty on May 4, 1778, and 
the people hailed it 
with thanksgiving. 

A French fleet had 
already been dis- 
patched to our shores. 
England was alarmed. 
Lord North, the prime 
minister, secured the 
passage of Parliament- 
ary bills by which ev- 
erything but independence was conceded to the col- 
onists, and commissioners were sent to this country. 
But Great Britain had come to her senses too late. 
Congress refused to treat with the commissioners on 
any other basis than that of independence. 

The British army was still at Philadelphia and Ad- 
miral Howe with his fleet in the Delaware when news 
came that a French squadron under Count d'Estaing 
was approaching. Howe sailed for New York, and on 
June 18th the British withdrew from Philadelphia and 
marched across New Jersey. Washington at once fol- 
lowed and overtook them at Monmouth. On June 
28th an attack was ordered, and General Charles Lee 




I5ENJ \.MIN 1 K\NKL1 



THE REVOLUTION— \i-i%. 28 1 

was appointed to execute the command. But he had 
opposed this plan and failed to act with zeal and 
promptness. His men were driven back and only 
rallied by the arrival of Washington, who rebuked 
Lee and ordered him to the rear. The battle contin- 
ued, but night fell without the marked success which 
Lee's insubordination had alone prevented. How- 
ever, Clinton retired in the night, leaving more than 
400 of his dead and wounded behind, and 800 of his 
soldiers deserted before he reached New York. The 
Americans lost 229 in killed and wounded. 

Lee was court-martialed for his disobedience, his 
lack of zeal in the battle, and his want of respect for 
Washington, and Congress confirmed the sentence of 
a year's suspension from his command. For further 
offenses he was afterward dismissed from the service, 
and before he died he came to wish for the defeat of 
his country, in whose behalf he never fought again. 

Washington followed the British to New York and 
took up his position at White Plains. D'Estaing ar- 
rived with his fleet, but being unable to secure pilots, 
his large ships could not enter the harbor. He then 
sailed for Newport, where he was to co-operate with 
th2 American forces under Sullivan in an attack on 
the British. Howe followed with his fleet, which had 
been re-enforced, and d'Estamg attempted to draw 
him into action, but a fierce storm arose and shat- 
tered both fleets. D'Estaing retired to Boston and 
Howe to New York. 

Meanwhile, on August 9th, Sullivan had crossed to 
Rhode Island and laid siege to Newport, but on 
d'Estaing's departure he was forced to withdraw. In 
the upper part of the island he was overtaken by the 
British under Pigot, but succeeded in repulsing them, 
and on the night of August 30th he reached the main- 
land in safety. The next day Clinton arrived at New- 
port with British re-enforcements. He sent out a de- 



282 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

tachment to destroy stores at New Bedford and what 
shipping they could find in the neighborhood, and 
then returned to New York. 

In November d'Estaing sailed for the West Indies, 
and in the last month of the year Admiral Byron, 
who had succeeded Admiral Howe, left New York to 
carry on the warfare in the region of those islands. 
The war on land was now beginning to be waged in 
the south. On December 29th, 3,000 British troops, 
under Colonel Campbell, reached Savannah. General 
Robert Howe, who commanded the Americans, de- 
termined to risk a battle. His forces numbered hard- 
ly a third as many as the enemy, but he relied on his 
knowledge of the ground. He was defeated, how- 
ever, and the British gained Savannah. 

During this year there were various depredations 
committed by marauding expeditions. In July Major 
Butler raised a force of tories, Canadians, and In- 
dians and entered the valley of Wyoming, in Penn- 
sylvania, through which flows the Susquehanna. A 
few militia, with the aged and the young inhabitants 
of the valley, hardly more than 300 in number, op- 
posed him, but were cut to pieces with the loss of 225 
men. They fled, with the women and children, to a 
fort. Butler promised honorable terms for their sur- 
render, and hopeless of a successful defense, the fugi- 
tives capitulated, and most of them escaped across 
the mountains. But the cruel Senecas scoured the 
neighborhood, burned their homes, and took many 
more scalps. 

In October a party of British, led by Ferguson, 
burned the American shipping in Little Egg Harbor 
and ravaged the country inland. In November Cher- 
ry Valley, in western New York, was attacked by 
British, tories, and Indi:ins, under Walter Butler, the 
son of the Butler who acquired such ill-fame in the 
Wyoming massacre, and Joseph Brant, chief of the 



THE REVOLUTION— i-nZ. 2d>7, 

Mohawks. More than thirty of the inhabitants of the 
valley, mostly women and children, were murdered. 
The patriots took revenge for these atrocities by an 
expedition against the Indians on the upper part of 
the Susquehanna. In the early part of the year Major 
Clarke had been sent west of the Alleghanies, and he 
succeeded in capturing Kaskaskia from the British in 
July, and later on Vincennes also. The latter post 
was afterward retaken by the enemy, but in the next 
year again came into the possession of the Americans. 
This year was marked chiefly by the alliance with 
France. American arms, also, had gained more suc- 
cess than the British in the battle of Monmouth, and 
the enemy had been forced to evacuate Philadelphia 
and retreat to New York, and thereafter Clinton 
could do little more than send out marauding expedi- 
tions. The year, in the main, was favorable to the 
patriot cause. At its close the British were almost 
confined to New York. Newport, and Savannah. 



284 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

THE REVOLUTION 1779- 

The war in the south — Augusta captured by the British — Recapt- 
ured by the Americans — Lincoln succeeds Robert Howe — 
Americans defeated at Brier Creek — Charleston besieged — 
The British raise the siege — Americans repulsed at Stono 
Ferry — D'Estaing and Lincoln besiege Savannah — Their fail- 
ure — Operations in the north — Tryon's Connecticut expedi- 
tions — Putnam at Horse Neck— Clinton captures Stony and 
Verplanck's points — Wayne recaptures the former — Paulus 
Hook and Penobscot Bay — Revenge for the Wyoming and 
Cherry valley massacres — Paul Jones — The Bon Homme Rich- 
ard captures the Serapis. 

The opening of 1779 saw the continuance of the 
war in the south, where the British were in the main 
successfuL On January 9th General Prevost captured 
Sunbury, on St. Catherine's Sound, the only position 
occupied by the Americans south of Savannah. He 
then joined Campbell's forces and took command, 
sending that officer against Augusta. The city came 
into the possession of the British on January 29th, and 
Georgia was at their mercy. 

But events were in progress which gave the city 
back to the Americans. The tories of Carolina who 
were marching to meet Campbell were twice defeated 
by the patriots. The second attack was made on 
them by Colonel Pickens and the Carolina militia, 
February 14th. The leader of the tories and forty 
of his men were killed, and a still larger number 
captured. Campbell was alarmed and retreated to 
Charleston, leaving Augusta and the western part of 
the state in the hands of the patriots. 



THE REVOLUTION— Y-]-}^, 285 

General Lincoln had succeeded Robert Howe in 
command of the southern army. He sent a force of 
1,500 men under Ashe to cut off the enemy. But at 
Brier Creek the Americans were surrounded by the 
British forces under Prevost, who had advanced from 
Savannah, and on March 3d were utterly routed. On- 
ly 450 rejoined Lincoln at Perrysburg. The remain- 
der were killed or captured, or returned home. Pre- 
vost now proclaimed a British government in Georgia. 

Within a short time, however, Lincoln raised several 
thousand men and marched up the Savannah River. 
Prevost crossed the stream and advanced to Charles- 
ton, of which, on May 12th, he demanded the sur- 
render. General Moultrie, in command of the city, 
was too brave to yield to this demand, and refused to 
capitulate. At this juncture Prevost learned that 
Lincoln was approaching, and he retired. Lincoln 
pursued and was repulsed at Stono Ferry. Prevost 
then withdrew to Savannah, first establishinga post at 
Beaufort. His campaign in South Carolina had been 
a grand plundering expedition. 

During the hot weather Lincoln, who was left with 
but 800 men, remained at Sheldon. Active operations 
were not resumed till the fall, when d'Estaing ar- 
rived with his fleet, on which great hopes were placed. 
The intention was that d'Estaing should co-operate 
with Lincoln in attacking Savannah. On the 12th of 
September 6,000 of the French landed. Lincoln had 
not arrived, but d'Estaing demanded a surrender, 
which Prevost refused. When Lincoln finally brought 
the Americans to the spot, a vigorous siege was com- 
menced. But the severe bombardment failed to in- 
jure the fortifications materially. D'Estaing was anx- 
ious to get away from the coast before the storms of 
the autumn should burst upon his fleet. A conference 
was held and it was decided to attempt an assault. 

On the morning of the 9th of October the French 



2 86 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

and Americans advanced, but the various divisions 
failed to co-operate with the necessary precision, and 
after a fierce attack on the works the allied forces 
were driven back. The British suffered little injury. 
The French lost about 600 men and the Americans 
200. Sergeant Jasper, of Fort Moultrie memory, and 
the brave Pulaski were mortally wounded. D'Estaing 
himself was wounded twice, though not fatally. He 
gathered his men on the ships and sailed for France, 
while Lincoln withdrew to Charleston. 

Meanwhile military operations had been carried on 
at the north, but on a small scale. The patriot army 
had spent the winter at Middlebrook, in New Jersey. 
When the season opened the forces were somewhat 
disorganized. Food and clothing were scarce and 
Congress had little money at its command to supply 
these or pay the men. But respect for Washington 
and the cause prevented mutiny. The commander- 
in-chief was forced to declare that the affairs of the 
country had never been "at as low an ebb as at the 
present." 

Tryon, the old governor of New York, and a tory, 
led the first expedition of the year in this quarter, 
aiming at the destruction of the salt-works at Horse 
Neck, Connecticut. General Putnam gathered the 
Americans, but the patriots were forced to fly before 
the superior forces of the enemy. Putnam himself 
only escaped by spurring his horse down the zigzag 
path of a steep incline. Tryon accomplished his pur- 
pose and retired to Kingsbridge. In July Tryon 
made another expedition, this time to New Haven, 
which he captured. The militia gathered and drove 
the British away before the town was set on fire, but 
East Haven, Fairfield, and Norwalk were pillaged 
and burned. Meanwhile a force sent from New York 
had ravaged Virginia and given Norfolk and Ports- 
mouth to the flames. 



THE REVOLUTION— XTJ^^, 



287 



Toward the end of May Clinton had sailed up the 
Hudson with a detachment of troops. The Ameri- 
cans had not completed the works at Stony Point 
and withdrew before the British. Clinton made use 







of the position 
to bombard 
V erplanck's 
Point, across 
the river. Soon 
the British 
were ferried 
over the stream 
and forced the 
garrison of this 
post to surren- 
der after a 
brave defense. 
Thus the low- 
er part of the river was held by the British, and the 
American communication between New England and 
the rest of the country was cut off below the High- 
lands of the Hudson. 

The recapture of Stony Point by the Americans 






^^■■■^.xe!^'' 



PUTNAM ESCAPES THE BRITISH. 



288 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

was determined on, and to General Wayne was in- 
trusted the enterprise. He was brilliantly successful. 
The fort was garrisoned by 600 men, was strongly 
fortified and protected also by the vessels of war in 
the river. Wayne advanced against the post with 
1,200 men. The countersign was learned from a 
negro, and after dark on the night of July 15th a 
sentinel was seized and gagged. The Americans ad- 
vanced in two columns with fixed bayonets. Close 
to the works they were discovered, but they pressed 
on regardless of the musket-balls and grape-shot that 
rained upon them, stormed the works, and shortly 
after midnight were masters of the situation. They 
had lost but fifteen killed and eighty-three wounded, 
while the British lost in killed and wounded sixty- 
three, and the rest, 543, were made prisoners. Wayne 
removed the stores and cannon and razed the works. 
Congress presented him with a gold medal for this 
exploit. Stony Point was soon reoccupied by the 
British but they did not long remain there. 

A few days after the Stony Point episode, Major 
Henry Lee surprised the British garrison at Paulus 
Hook, now Jersey City, captured the post, and retired 
with 159 prisoners. But an expedition sent by Mas- 
sachusetts against a British post on Penobscot Bay, 
where Castine is now situated, was not so successful. 
Nineteen armed vessels and twenty-four transports 
carried 1,000 men, who landed, only to find them- 
selves too weak to assault the woiks. While they 
were waiting for re-enforcements a British fleet ar- 
rived, the American squadron was defeated, and the 
troops escaped through the woods. This was about 
the middle of August. 

During the summer General Sullivan was put in 
command of 4,000 or 5,000 men to attack the Indians 
in revenge for the Wyoming and Cherry valley mas- 
sacres. He succeeded admirably in the enterprise. 



THE REVOLUTION— 1-]^^, 289 

His forces and those led by General James Clinton 
and others ravaged the country of the savages be- 
tween the Susquehanna and the Genesee. Their 
crops of maize and a score or more of their villages 
were destroyed, and the Senecas vi'ere taught a severe 
though necessary lesson. 

In October Sir Henry Clinton withdrew from New- 
port at a rumor that a French fleet was approaching. 
He fled with such precipitancy that many guns and 
numerous stores were left behind. 

The first important naval combat of the war oc- 
curred in this year. As early as 1775 Congress had 
commenced the establishment of a naval force. Fast 
privateers were sent out that within a few years had 
committed great depredations on Briti.sh commerce. 
In the fall of 1779 Paul Jones was cruising off the 
coasts of England and Scotland with five French and 
American vessels. On September 23d, off Flambor- 
ough Head, he ran across a number of merchant ves- 
sels convoyed by two British men-of-war. One of 
these was the Scrapis, of forty-four guns. Jones was 
in command of the Bon Honiine Richard (named after 
the *' Poor Richard " of Franklin's almanac), which 
mounted but forty guns, many of them unservicea- 
ble. These tw^o vessels engaged in a fierce duel, 
which commenced after sunset and lasted for two 
hours or more. For a while they fought at short 
range, and then the Richard closed with her antago- 
nist. At close quarters the crews of both vessels 
fought with desperation, and there were times when 
both were ablaze. Finally the Serapis struck her col- 
ors. The next day Jones had barely time to transfer 
his men to the captured vessel when the RicJuird ^w\\\i. 
The companion of the Serapis, the Countess of Scar- 
borough^ was captured by the French frigate, ihe Ra/ias^ 
but the remaining vessels took little or no part in the 
action. 



290 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

During this year the campaign in the south had 
been for the most part unfavorable to the cause of 
independence, but northern operations had been fa- 
vored with greater success. Especially noteworthy 
was Wayne's capture of Stony Point. Paul Jones* 
victory on the ocean stirred the patriot hearts with 
pride. But Congress was in great financial distress, 
and the army necessarily suffered. Great Britain, on 
the other hand, was putting forth renewed efforts for 
the next year. 



THE REVOLUTION— \']%o. 291 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

THE REVOLUTION 1780. 

The south is the theater of war — The siege of Charleston — Lin- 
coln surrenders the city — Minor engagements — Tarleton's cru- 
elty — Sumter, Marion, and Pickens — Hardships of the Amer- 
ican army — Gates succeeds Lincoln — Is defeated at Sander's 
Creek — Greene given the command in the south — The British 
defeated at King's Mountain — Benedict Arnold — His treason- 
able negotiations with Andre — The latter is captured and ex- 
ecuted — The profits of Arnold's treason — Financial condition 
of the colonies — Robert Morris — War between Holland and 
Great Britain. 

The war was confined during this year almost en- 
tirely to the south, and was disastrous to the Ameri- 
cans. In the early part of February Admiral Arbuth- 
not appeared before Charleston with a British fleet 
which bore Sir Henry Clinton and 5,000 men from 
New York. Charleston was garrisoned by 1,400 men, 
under General Lincoln. The British landed and spent 
several weeks in slow advances toward the American 
works. On the 7th of April the small body of patriots 
was increased by 700 Virginians, but the British fleet 
succeeded in passing Fort Moultrie and Lincoln was 
called on to surrender. At the entreaty of the inhab- 
itants he declined to capitulate. 

The siege was now begun in earnest. Lincoln, to 
keep open his communications toward the north, had 
sent General Huger with 300 men to raise the militia 
north of the Cooper River; but this force was sur- 
prised and dispersed by British cavalry under Tarle- 
ton, at Monk's Corner. And again the same British 



292 HISTOR V OF THE UNITED STA TES. 

officer defeated an American force on the Santee. 
Meanwhile the bombardment of Charleston had 
reduced the fortifications. Clinton had been re-en- 
forced, and there was left no hope of saving the city. 
The retreat of the Americans was cut off. Finally 
Lincoln capitulated on the 12th of May. The conti- 
nental soldiers and sailors became prisoners of war, 
the militia and the inhabitants of the city were pa- 
roled, and Charleston passed into the hands of the 
British and Hessians, who divided the spoils of war 
to the amount of ^300,000. 

South Carolina was now overrun by the British. 
One expedition captured Fort Ninety-Six, in the west- 
ern part of the state, and another marched up the 
Savannah. Cornwallis, with the main body of the 
enemy, proceeded northward, crossed the Santee, and 
captured Georgetown. Tarleton fell on a retreating 
body of the Americans at Waxhaw Creek, a tributary 
of the Catawba, and though they sued for quarter, 
killed 113 and mangled 150 so frightfully that they 
could not be moved. 

Clinton, considering that South Carolina had been 
conquered, sailed for New York with about half his 
army, leaving Cornwallis in command of the rest. 
The conflict now assumed a peculiar character, caused 
by the broken country and the division of the inhab- 
itants. No one could be neutral. The tories fell on 
their patriot neighbors and were attacked in turn by 
these. Small bodies of armed men scoured the coun- 
try, Tarleton, with his cavalry, and Ferguson, with 
his riflemen, ravaged in every direction. On the 
American side Thomas Sumter, called the *' Carolina 
Gamecock," Francis Marion, known as the "Bayard 
of the South," and Pickens, fell upon the British un- 
awares at every opportunity, and disappeared as sud- 
denly as they had come. One of these engagements 
occurred at Hanging Rock, where the British and 



THE REVOLUTIO.V—i^?>o. 293 

tories were defeated by Sumter. It was here that a 
future President of the United States, Andrew Jack- 
son by name, took part in his first battle, while still a 
b.y 

It is narrated that on one occasion a British officer 
who had been sent on some business to Marion was 
invited to dinner. He expressed surprise at the 
meager meal which was presented — roasted potatoes 
served on pieces of bark. " Surely, General, this can- 
not be your ordinary fare," he said. He was assured 
that it was the common repast of the patriots, only 
more abundant than usual in his honor. Struck by 
the patriotism of men who continued to fight under 
the disadvantages indicated by this incident, he re- 
signed his commission in the British army. 

The command of the southern army had been 
transferred to General Gates after the capitulation of 
Charleston. He marched with a considerable force 
of regulars and militia across North Carolina, and 
on the 13th of August was at Clermont, in the upper 
part of South Carolina. The British had been con- 
centrated at Camden, thirteen miles to the southeast, 
and Cornwallis had arrived there with re-enforce- 
ments. Strangely enough, the generals of each of 
the opposing armies had planned a surprise on the 
other for the same night. The advance-guards met 
early in the morning of the i6th at Sander's Creek, and 
after a skirmish the battle was delayed till daylight. 
At the first charge the Virginians, not accustomed to 
use the bayonets which they had received only the 
day befcre, fled in confusion. The North Carolina 
troops followed their example, but the divisions from 
Maryland and Delaware stood firm for a while. De 
Kalb, in command of the latter, fought fiercely till 
he was wounded eleven times and mortally. Others 
of the patriot officers showed great bravery, but the 
Americans were finally defeated. The British lost 



294 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

500 men. The American loss was large, but is not 
exactly known. Their cannon and baggage were left 
behind and almost every corps was dispersed. Gates 
had early disappeared from the scene of battle and 
fled to Charlotte, North Carolina, where the wreck 
of the army followed him. The boasts he had made 
of conquering Cornwallis as he had conquered Bur- 
goyne had not been fulfilled, and he was superseded 
by General Greene, one of the ablest generals of the 
Revolution, whom Washington had originally wished 
to succeed Lincoln. 

South Carolina was once more at the mercy of the 
British. A few days after this battle near Camden, 
Tarleton routed Sumter's force at Fishing Creek, 
thirty miles to the northwest of that place. The 
British advanced to Charlotte and the Americans re- 
tired to Salisbury. Meanwhile Ferguson had been 
sent into the region west of the Catawba River with 
a force of British and tories. On October 7th he was 
attacked on the top of King's Mountain by Colonel 
Campbell with 1,000 American riflemen. After a 
fierce struggle the British surrendered. Four hun- 
dred and fifty-six had been killed or severely wounded, 
and almost all the remainder, 648 men, were made 
prisoners. On the American side, notwithstanding 
the disadvantage of being obliged to charge up a 
steep ascent, on.y twenty-eight were killed and sixty 
wounded. With the battle of King's Mountain the 
campaign of the year closed in the south. 

This year was marked by treason as well as by dis- 
aster. Benedict Arnold was a brave man, whose gal- 
lantry at Quebec and Bemis' Heights was beyond 
question, and he had been wounded in each of these 
engagements. For his share in the latter battle he 
was made a major-general, and as his wound prevented 
active service, he was made commandant of Philadel- 
phia. He married the daughter of a tory and en- 



THE REVOLUTION— \iZo. 295 

tered on a career of extravagance that soon led him 
to defraud the government. Charges being preferred 
against him he was sentenced by a court-martial to 
be reprimanded by Washi'^gton, who administered 
the rebulce as mildly as possible. But Arnold's proud 
spirit could not brook censure, and he was already in- 
clined to the royal side, and had been taken into the 
pay of Clinton, who, failing to conquer the patriots 
by arms, had come to try corruption. 

Arnold asked to be given the command of the im- 
portant post of West Point, with its large magazines 
of ammunition. His request was granted, and on 
July 31st he assumed charge of the fort, which he 
had already planned to turn over to the British. 
Clinton sent Major Andre up the river in the sloop 
of war Vulture to complete the treasonable arrange- 
ments with Arnold. Andre landed and met the 
traitor, who had come down the river for the pur- 
pose, near Haverstraw, on the night of September 
2ist. Arnold conducted the British officer within the 
American lines to the house of a tory, where the plot 
was consummated. In return for the aid that Arnold 
promised to Clinton in capturing West Point, he was 
to receive a large sum of money and the rank of brig- 
adier in the British army. 

The conference had taken some hours, and mean- 
while the Vulture had been forced by the fire of an 
American battery to change its anchorage. Andre 
disguised himself, and, provided with a pass from 
Arnold, crossed the Hudson and proceeded toward 
New York by land. About noon on the 23d he was 
stopped by three militiamen, who searched him and 
found plans of West Point and a list of its garrison, 
stores, and cannon, in Arnold's handwriting. He 
was detained and turned over to Lieutenant-Colonel 
Jameson, who commanded at North Castle. 

That officer, by a blunder or worse, allowed Arnold 
to hear of Andre's capture, and the traitor at once 



296 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

escaped to the Vulture. Andre was tried by a court- 
martial, and on his own confession sentenced to be 
hanged as a spy. The sentence was executed at 
Tappan on October 2d, and Andre met his death like 
a brave man. Arnold received between ;,{^6, 000 and 
^7,000 and his promised commission of brigadier. 
After remaining on American shores for a while to 
ravage the homes of his countrymen he went to Eng- 
land and sunk into obscurity and poverty, in which he 
died. 

There was little of active campaigning in the north 
in 1780, beyond two unsuccessful attempts of Knyp- 
hausen (who had been left in command at New 
York while Clinton was at the south) to invade New 
Jersey. In July a French fleet and 6,000 soldiers, un- 
der Admiral De Ternay and Count Rochambeau, ar- 
rived at Newport, and Washington arranged plans 
with them for future action. 

Congress meanwhile could do little for the army. 
It had resorted to the issue of paper money, and 
$20o,ooc,oco were created on paper. But without sil- 
ver or gold to biick it the bills sunk in value, till at 
the beginning of this year they were not worth two 
and a half cents on the dollar. But Robert Morris 
and other rich Americans patriotically aided the cause 
with their wealth, and many a noble-hearted woman 
sent food and clothing to the soldiers and molded 
bullets with her own hands. One thing occurred to- 
ward the end of the year, however, which raised the 
hopes of the country. Holland had for some time 
shown favor to the American cause and had many 
causes of grievance against England. Now war broke 
out been these countries and the cares of Great Brit- 
ain were increased. 

The treason of Arnold in the north and the capture 
of Charleston in the south had both been heavy blows 
to the patriot cause, and the disastrous events of the 
year had cast a gloom over the country. 



THE J^E VOLUTION— 11^1-11^3. 297 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION 1781-1783. 

Mutiny in the American army — Its salutary effect — The Bank of 
North America — Unsuccessful attempt to capture Arnold— 
His expeditions to Virginia and Connecticut — The massacre 
at Fort Griswold— The war in the south— The British defeat- 
ed at the Cowpens— Greene's retreat to Virginia— Is re-en- 
forced— The battle of Guilford's Court-House — Hobkirk's 
Hill — The Americans unsuccessfully besiege Fort Ninety- 
Six— The execution of Isaac Hayne— The battle of Eutaw 
Springs — The British confined to Savannah and Charleston — 
Greene's successes — Cornvvallis in Virginia — Unsuccessfully 
attacked by Wayne— Yorktown fortified— Washington moves 
southward— Admiral De Grasse drives off the English fleet un- 
der Graves— Washington and Lafayette besiege Yorktown— 
Cornwallis surrenders— French assistance in the struggle— Ef- 
fect of the victory at home and abroad — The war over — The 
treaty of Paris — Its provisions— Independence secured — New 
York evacuated by the British— The Society of the Cincinnati 
founded— Washington bids farewell to his officers— And re- 
signs his commission. 

The year 1781 opened with no brighter prospects. 
On its very first day the Pennsylvania troops, most of 
whom were newly arrived Irish immigrants, mutinied 
and marched toward Philadelphia to demand of Con- 
gress food, clothing, and their pay, which was due 
for nearly a year. General Wayne attempted in 
vain to restrain them. They insisted on proceeding, 
but asserted they were not traitors. This statement 
they soon proved by giving up to be hung as spies 
the emissaries whom Clinton had sent among them 
with tempting promises, and they refused the reward 



298 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

which was offered them for this action. Their de- 
mands were finally met by concessions, and those who 
claimed to have ended their terms of enlistment were 
discharged. 

The New Jersey troops, also embracing a large for- 
eign-born element, encouraged by the success of this 
revolt, showed signs of mutiny. But Washington at 
once sent against them some New England regiments 
of native Americans and they were subdued. The 
mutineers were compelled to assist in the execution 
of two of their leaders. 

The effect of these risings was salutary. Congress 
exerted itself with greater energy to support the army, 
and an agent was sent to France to procure a loan. 
Robert Morris and his friends pledged their own 
fortunes for the credit of the government, Morris 
was appointed financial agent. The Bank of North 
America, incorporated by Congress on December 31, 
1781, was established in January of 1782. But the 
great difficulty was that Congress had no power of 
compulsion over the separate states. It could advise 
and pass laws, but each state was free to adopt or re- 
ject these as they chose. 

Washington desired to capture the traitor Arnold, 
and a clever plan was formed to accomplish that re- 
sult. John Champe escaped, as a pretended deserter, 
to the British, and with two confederates arranged 
to seize and gag Arnold and bring him to the Ameri- 
can camp. But when success was at hand Arnold 
suddenly changed his quarters and the scheme failed. 
Champe afterward returned to the patriot army and 
was relieved of the odium of being considered a de- 
serter. 

This happened in the preceding year, and in De- 
cember Arnold sailed with 1,600 men to Virginia. 
He entered the James River in January, devastated 
the country, and destroyed considerable public and 



THE RE VOLUTION— i^^i-ii^'i' 299 

private property. A French fleet was sent to co-op- 
erate with Lafayette, who was in the neighborhood. 
But the English fleet drove back the French squad- 
ron, and Lafayette had too small a force to accomplish 
much alone. General Phillips now arrived with Brit- 
ish re-enforcements, and the country was further 
ravaged. Finally Phillips died, and a few days later 
Cornwallis arrived from North Carolina and sent 
Arnold back to New York in May. 

In September Arnold led an expedition against 
Connecticut, his native state. He seized New Lon- 
don and carried by storm Fort Griswold, which was 
defended by 150 men, under Colonel Ledyard. When 
Ledyard surrendered his sword to a British officer it 
was plunged into his own body. Seventy-three of 
the garrison were slain, about thirty wounded, and 
the rest captured. Happily this ferocious deed end- 
ed the career of Arnold against his own countrymen. 

In the meantime the south had been the theater of 
war. Cornwallis was at Camden, South Carolina, 
and Greene, at Charlotte, North Carolina, had reor- 
ganized his forces General Morgan was sent into 
South Carolina, and Cornwallis detached Tarleton, 
with his cavalry, to oppose him The latter attacked 
Morgan at the Cowpens on January 17th. At the 
height of the battle Colonel William Washington 
made a furious charge with the American cavalry 
and drove everything before him. The Americans 
lost but twelve killed and sixty wounded. Of the 
British, more than 100 were killed, 200 wounded, and 
over 500, with two field-pieces and 800 muskets, were 
captured. 

Cornwallis marched to attack Morgan, who fell 
back across the Catawba, on January 23d Greene 
joined him, took command, and continued the re- 
treat before the superior forces of Cornwallis, order- 
ing the eastern division of his army to meet him at 



300 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Guilford Court-House. Cornwallis was delayed for 
some days by heavy rains, which swelled the Catawba. 
He finally succeeded in crossing the stream on the ist 
of February, after overcoming with some loss a small 
force which opposed him. 

Now began a race for the Yadkin, sixty miles away. 
The Americans reached the stream first and crossed 
in safety. The British were close behind, but before 
they could cross a heavy rain once more favored the 
patriots. Cornwallis lost two days in ascending the 
river to a spot where he could pass over, which he 
succeeded in doing on the 7th. The same day the 
two divisions of the American army united at Guil- 
ford Court-House, but were still too few to oifer battle. 
They therefore continued the retreat to the Dan, 
which they crossed on the 14th of February. The 
advance-guard of the British came in sight just as the 
last of the Americans were passing over. Greene had 
conducted a masterly retreat and was safe in Virginia; 
Cornwallis pursued him no further. 

After a few days Greene's men were rested from 
their forced march and fresh recruits joined the patriot 
standard. On the 22d of February Greene recrossed 
the Dan. He avoided a conflict with Cornwallis, but 
Colonel Lee was sent into the country beyond the 
Haw River, whither Tarleton had been also dis- 
patched. He missed Tarleton, but fell in with 300 
tories who were marching to join the British, and cut 
the force to pieces. 

Greene was now re-enforced so that he commanded 
about 4,000 men, and he took position at Guilford 
Court-House. There he was attacked by Cornwallis 
on March 15th with a force smaller than his own but 
better disciplined. A stubborn battle was fought. 
The new recruits of the Americans broke and the 
patriots retired from the field. Their loss was small- 
er than the British, but many of the militia returned 



THE REVOLUrJON—i^^i-i-jZ^. 301 

to their homes, leaving Greene with less than 3,000 
men. But the British had been checked, and soon 
they held in North Carolina only Wilmington. 

Cornwallis now proceeded to Petersburg, Virginia, 
where he found Arnold and sent him north, as we 
have already seen. He left the army in the Carolinas 
under the command of Lord Rawdon, at Camden, 
Greene determined to carry the war into South Caro- 
lina. He took a strong position at Hobkirk's Hill, a 
mile and a half north of Camden. There, on the 25th 
of April, he was attacked by Rawdon. The Ameri- 
cans were almost surprised, but Greene handled his 
troops admirably, and success seemed probable; but 
some of the American leaders were killed and their 
troops wavered. The British seized the opportunity, 
gained the summit of the hill, and drove the patriots 
back. Greene, however, lost no more than the Brit- 
ish (about 300 men), and he saved his cannon and kept 
his force together. 

In about a fortnight Rawdon evacuated Camden 
and withdrew to Eutaw Springs, which, with Charles- 
ton and Fort Ninety-Six, were all that were left to the 
British in the early part of June. Several posts, in- 
cluding Augusta, had been captured by the Ameri- 
cans. Ninety-Six had been besieged by Greene after 
the battle of Hobkirk's Hill; but after a siege of 
about four weeks, and when the garrison would have 
been forced shortly to capitulate, Rawdon approached 
and Greene was forced to withdraw on June 19th, 
after an unsuccessful attempt to carry the works 
by storm. The post was abandoned and the British 
retired to Orangeburg. Rawdon's position was too 
strong to be assaulted, and Greene ordered the main 
part of his army to the high hills of Santee for the hot 
season. 

During the summer various bands of the patriots, 
under Lee, Marion, and Sumter, scoured the country 



302 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



and did much damage to the British. Morgan had 
been compelled, by rheumatism and fever, to cease 
his active and brilliant part in the war. Rawdon, 
leaving Colonel Stuart in command at Orangeburg, 
proceeded to Charleston, and afterward, pretending 
sickness, sailed for England, but was captured by the 
French on his way. But before he went he sanctioned 
the execution of Isaac Hayne, who, after the fall of 
Charleston, had obtained British protection, though 
he afterward led a regiment of American militia. 
This deed awakened the most bitter enmity to En- 
glish rule among all humane and fair-minded per- 
sons. 

In the latter part of August Greene left his position 
on the hills of the Santee and marched against Orange- 
burg. The British retired to Eutaw Springs, but 
Greene followed, and there, on the 8th of September, 
occurred one of the fiercest contests of the Revolu- 
tion. At first the Americans were successful and 
routed the British, but in a second engagement, which 
occurred immediately, a rash attack on the enemy 
was made and the Americans were defeated. In the 
whole day the Americans lost 554 men. The British 
lost nearly 1,000, including about 500 prisoners. 

Stuart retreated to Monk's Corner, and later on to 
Charleston. Wilmington was soon evacuated, and in 
all the country south of Virginia the British retained 
only Savannah and Charleston. 

The first of these was evacuated July nth and the 
latter December 14th of the next year. Greene had 
met with several defeats in battle, but by his genius 
in retrieving himself and his persistence in continu- 
ing the struggle with the forces at his disposal, he 
had, during his command of less than ten months, 
practically recovered the three southern states. From 
this time on we shall hear of no more British ravages 
in this quarter. 



THE RE VOL ^r/O^V— 1 78 r-i 783. 



Z^Z 



The final campaign of the Revolution was carried 
on in Virginia. Cornwallis, who arrived there and 
took command in the latter part of April, 1781, com- 
menced operations by ravaging the country along the 
James and destroying much valuable public and pri- 
vate property. Tarleton was sent on a rapid sally to 
Charlottesville, where the Virginia assembly was in 
session, but he accomplished little more than the 
capture of seven members of the legislature. Lafay- 
ette, meanwhile, who commanded the troops for the 
defense of Virginia, was not 
strong enough to attack Corn- 
wallis. 

Clinton was fearful that the 
Americans meditated an at- 
tack on New York, and he or- 
dered Cornwallis to take a 
strong position and to act on 
the defensive. The British 
commander in Virginia pro- 
ceeded down the James till he 
came to Green Springs, near 
Jamestown. There he was at- 
tacked on the 6th of July by 
General Wayne, who was led 
to suppose, by false informa- 
tion, that the main body of the enemy had crossed 
the stream. Wayne soon discovered his mistake, 
and though he fought with bravery, would have 
been overwhelmed but for the timely arrival of re- 
enforcements under Lafayette. The French general 
plunged into the thick of the battle at the peril of his 
life and saved the Americans from utter rout. Each 
side lost about 120 men, 

Cornwallis now proceeded to Portsmouth, but 
orders from Clinton forced him against his judgment 
to transfer his army in the first week of August to 




CORNWALLIS. 



304 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Yorktown. Thissmall village, situated on the southern 
bank of the York River a few miles above its mouth, 
and Gloucester, on the opposite side of the stream, 
were fortified. Lafayette followed and took position 
about eight miles distant. He urged Washington 
to send re-enforcements, and foresaw the doom that 
threatened Cornwallis when the expected French fleet 
should arrive to complete his investment on the water 
side. Meanwhile Clinton had been led to believe, by 
letters written for the purpose of falling into his 
hands, that New York was to be attacked on the 2d 
of September. He at last realized that Washington was 
moving southward with Rochambeau and the allied 
forces of French and Americans. 

In the meantime, on the 30th of August, De Grasse, 
with the French fleet of twenty-eight ships of the 
line bearing 4,000 soldiers, arrived from the West 
Indies and "blockaded the York River. The English 
admiral. Graves, sailed from New York to break up 
the blockade, but his fleet was so roughly handled 
by De Grasse on the 5th of September that he was 
obliged to return whence he had come. De Barras 
had arrived from Newport by this time with eight 
more French ships of the line and ten transports 
carrying heavy guns for the siege. 

On September 28th the siege of Yorktown was 
commenced in earnest by the allied forces, who out- 
numbered the British, under Washington and Ro- 
chambeau. Cornwallis withdrew his advanced posts, 
and Tarleton w^as hemmed in at Gloucester. The 
latter attempted a sally but was driven back. On 
the night of the 5th of October trenches were opened 
600 yards from the works of Cornwallis. The 
Americans on the right and the French on the left 
worked with zeal. In three days the first parallel 
was completed, and a heavy cannonade was kept 
up on the fortifications of the enemy. On the night 



THE REVOLUTION— \^%\-\~i'^2>' 



305 



of the i-Tth the second parallel was commenced. Two 
advanced redoubts were carried on the night of the 




T4th by storm. Early in the morning of the T6th 
the British made a sally, but were driven back with- 



3o6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

out having accomplished anything of value to their 
side. 

Cornwallis now felt the hopelessness of further re- 
sistance. He was opposed by a superior force and 
able generals. His escape was cut otf on all sides, by 
land and by water. On the 17th he proposed to sur- 
render. The next day the terms of capitulation 
were drawn lip, and at 4 o'clock in the afternoon of 
October 19, 1781, Major-General O'Hara marched 
the British army into an open field, where they laid 
down their arms. Cornwallis remained in his tent. 

The prisoners numbered 7,247 soldiers and 840 
sailors. Two hundred and forty-four pieces of can- 
non, seventy-five of them brass, besides other accou- 
terments and stores, also fell into the hands of the 
allied forces. It was a glorious victory for the pa- 
triot cause, but it must not be forgotten how much 
France had aided in the siege. Nine thousand of the 
troops were Americans, but France furnished 7,000, 
besides thirty-six ships of the line. 

The surrender was felt to be virtually the close of 
the war, and was everywhere received with the pro- 
foundest emotions of joy and exultation. When the 
news reached Philadelphia the city was illuminated, 
and Congress marched in a body to the Dutch Lu- 
theran church to give thanks. France and the con- 
tinental nations of Europe rejoiced at the victory. 

In England the king and the ministry heard the 
news with bitter disappointment. But the people 
were glad at the prospect of the cessation of war. 
Finally, on March 20, 1782, Lord North announced 
the resignation of himself and his colleagues in the 
ministry. The new ministry sent Sir Guy Carleton, 
who looked kindly on America, to take Clinton's 
place in command of the British forces. 

After" the surrender of Cornwallis Washington re- 
turned to his old positions in the neighborhood of 



THE REVOLUTION— \']^\-\-]^z- 307 

New York, Wayne was sent to re-enforce Greene, 
Rochambeau remained with the French in Virginia, 
and De Grasse returned to the West Indies. But the 
war was over, and no engagement of importance 
again occurred. 

Negotiations for peace were commenced in the 
summer of 1782; Oswald, Fitzherbert, and Strachey, 
on the part of Great Britain, and FrankUn, Jay, John 
Adams, and Henry Laurens, on the part of the United 
States, agreed to the preliminaries on November 30th. 
In April of the next year Congress ratified the set- 
tlement. But England had been at war with France, 
Holland, and Spain as well as with the United States, 
and it was not until September 3, 1783, that commis- 
sioners from all these nations signed the final treaty 
at Paris. 

By this treaty Great Britain ceded Florida to Spain 
and retained Canada and Nova Scotia. The rest of 
the territory east of the Mississippi was given up to 
the United States, with the right of free navigation 
of the great lakes and the Mississippi, and with equal 
rights on the Newfoundland fishing-grounds. More 
than all, the United States secured a complete recog- 
nition of the independence for which they had fought 
with such persistence, with such loss of life, and with 
such suffering. 

Sir Guy Carleton was still at New York, the last 
post the British held. But he had already received 
orders to embark his army and leave the city. The 
evacuation took place on November 25, 1783. In the 
same year the officers of the American army formed 
the Society of the Cincinnati, to be continued forever 
by their eldest male descendants. One of its chief ob- 
jects was to cherish and uphold the Union, and it is 
still in existence. 

Immediately on the evacuation of New York by the 
British the American forces entered the city. There, on 



3o8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the 4th of December, 1783, Washington bid an affec- 
tionate farewell to his officers. He then proceeded to 
Annapolis, where Congress was in session, received ev- 
erywhere with enthusiasm as he advanced, and on the 
23d of Decemberresigned hiscommissionascommand- 
er-in chief. He refused to receive any compensation 
beyond his actual expenses, and retired to his home at 
Mount Vernon. The war was over — independence 
was won. 



FORMA TION OF THE CONSTITUTION. 309 



CHAPTER XL. 

FORMATION OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

Limited powers of Congress — The Articles of Confederation — The 
constitutional convention — The Constitution submitted to the 
states — The Northwestern Territory — "Shay's Rebellion" — 
Political parties — The Federalist — Ratification of the Constitu- 
tion — The first election — Washington and Adams chosen — ■ 
Washington journeys to New York — Close of the Revolution- 
ary period. 

The United States were now a separate nation, and 
the task lay before them of forming a liberal yet 
strong government. Congress at first was merely a 
consulting and advisory body, but it gradually ac- 
quired somewhat more power by a sort of general 
consent. A still stronger bond of union, however, 
was soon found to be necessary. As early as 1775 
Benjamin Franklin had proposed a plan of confedera- 
tion, but his measure received little consideration 
amid the excitement of the early days of the Revo- 
lution. 

But in June, 1776, Congress itself appointed a com- 
mittee to prepare a scheme with the same object in 
view. It was not, however, until November 15, 1777, 
that this body adopted the Articles of Confederation 
reported by the committee. The various states made 
suggestions of one sort and another, and in its amend- 
ed form the agreeinent was signed by the representa- 
tives of eight states in July, 1778, but it was March, 
1 781, before Maryland, the last state, ratified it and 
the confederation went into effect. 



3IO HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

But the new Congress had in reality little more 
power than the old one. Each state retained its sep- 
arate sovereignty and every power not expressly del- 
egated to Congress. That body was given the right 
to make treaties, but it could not enforce them on any 
of the states. It was to defray expenses for the com- 
mon defense out of a common treasury, but the sep- 
arate states had to vote the money before the treas- 
ury could be more than a name, and many of the 
states furnished little money or none at all. The 
troops could not be paid and confusion reigned in 
financial m.atters. 

It was soon seen that such a loose confederation 
would never do. Washington was one of the first to 
perceive this. In September, 1786, at the invitation 
of Virginia, representatives from several of the states 
met at Annapolis and recommended that Congress 
issue a call for a convention of all the states to settle 
on some means of increasing the power of the na- 
tional government. The constitutional convention, 
approved by Congress, assembled at Philadelphia in 
May, 1787, all the states being represented except 
Rhode Island. George Washington was unanimous- 
ly chosen President. After spending over three 
months in debating carefully and arranging amica- 
bly their differences of opinion, a committee was ap- 
pointed to prepare a final draft of the results of their 
deliberations. Their work was well done. In Sep- 
tember, 1787, the Constitution of the United States, 
written by the pen of Gouverneur Morris, was sub- 
mitted to the convention and adopted. It contained 
a provision that the Constitution should go into effect 
when nine states had ratified it. 

Meanwhile Congress was sitting in New York. 
Only eight states were represented in the body and 
it was in a feeble condition, but it passed one im- 
portant measure. The extensive territory northwest 



FORMATION OF THE CONSTITUTION. 



3TI 



of the Ohio River was claimed by Massachusetts, 
Connecticut, New York, and Virginia, under their 
charters as colonies. But they ceded their claims to 
the United States, and on the 13th of July, 1787, an 
ordinance was passed for the government of the North- 
western Territory, as it was called. Geweral St. 
Clair, president of the Congress, was appointed mili- 
tary governor. Slavery was prohibited in this region, 
and provision was made for the formation of new 
states as the population increased. The five states of 
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin now 
spread over the region once called the Northwestern 
Territory. 

During the winter of 1786-87 what is known as 
"Shay's Rebellion" broke out in Massachusetts, oc- 
casioned by discontent with harsh laws. The courts 
were interfered with and the national armory at 
Springfield threatened, but the insurrection was final- 
ly put down by an armed force. 

As the question of the adoption of the Constitution 
began to be discussed throughout the country the 
first two great political parties of the nation arose. 
The one thought that too much power was given to 
the central government. This was the republican 
party, known also as the Democrat, or anti-Federal- 
ist party. Its leaders were able men, such as Jeffer- 
son, Patrick Henry, and Elbridge Gerry. The other 
was the Federalist party. They argued for the adop- 
tion of the Constitution which the convention had 
prepared. Washington, Jay, Madison, and Alexander 
Hamilton were the most prominent advocates of this 
action, and the last three wrote a series of powerful 
papers, called the Federalist, to uphold their position. 

The provisions of the Constitution can best be 
learned by a reference to the document itself. It met 
with the approval of the people. One by one the 
states ratified it. Delaware, on December 6, 1787, 



312 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

was the first to give her assent. Pennsylvania, New- 
Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Mary- 
land, and South Carolina followed. On the 21st of 
June, 1788, the ninth state, New Hampshire, voted for 
the adoption of the Constitution, and the question 
was settled. Virginia and New York, after some hes- 
itation, followed the example of their sister states be- 
fore the end of the next month. North Carolina and 
Rhode Island held aloof until the nev/ government 
was in operation, but the former finally ratified the 
Constitution in November, 1789, and the latter in 
May, 1790, 

The first election occurred on the first Wednesday 
of January, 1789. In April the votes of the electoral 
college were counted. New York failed to vote be- 
cause a disagreement between the two branches of 
its legislature had prevented the settlement of the 
method of choosing electors. The unanimous votes 
of the other ten colonies, sixty-nine in number, were 
cast for George Washington as President. John 
Adams received thirty-four votes for Vice-President, 
which, being the greatest number cast fo any one 
candidate, were, as the Constitution at that time pro- 
vided, sufficient for his election. 

About the middle of April Washington left for New 
York, the first capital of the United States. His jour- 
ney was a triumphal procession. Vast throngs of 
people crowded to see him. The militia escorted 
him. At Trenton a triumphal arch was erected 
and young girls clad in white preceded him, singing 
and strewing his path with flowers. At Elizabeth 
Point he embarked in a thirteen-oared barge with 
thirteen pilots, emblematic of the number of the 
states. At New York he was received by the two 
houses of Congress, by the governor of the state, and 
the magistrates and people of the city 

Here we close the account of the struggle for inde- 



FORMA TION OF 7 'HE CONS TITU TION. 3 j 3 

pendence and of the formation of the Constitution. 
The states had hardly recovered from the effects of 
the bitter conflict in which many of the patriots had 
lost their lives and others their fortunes. But their 
troubles and trials in the cause of freedom were at an 
end. Under one of the most perfectly devised gov- 
ernments that has ever been known, they entered on 
a period of wonderful development and prosperity, 
and to their history during this period we now turn. 



Fourth Period. 



Development and Prosperity. 



FOURTH PERIOD. 



CHAPTER XLI. 

Washington's administration — 1789-1798. 

Inauguration of Washington — Official etiquette — National diffi- 
culties — Constitutional amendments — Cabinet officers — The 
President's tour through New England — Hamilton's financial 
measures — The Bank of the United States — The first census — 
Philadelphia becomes the capital — Vermont and Kentucky ad- 
mitted to the Union — Indian troubles in the west — Harmar 
and St. Clair defeated — Wayne is successful — Washington 
and Adams re-elected — Relations with France — "Citizen" 
Genet — English arrogance — Jay's treaty — Quarrels of Jeffer- 
son and Hamilton — The "Whisky Rebellion" — Treaty with 
Spain — The pirates of Algiers — Washington declines a third 
election — Adams and Jefferson are elected. 

George Washington, the first President of the Unit- 
ed States, was inaugurated on April 30, 1789, at a lit- 
tle more than fifty-seven years of age. The oath of 
office was administered to him by Chancellor Living- 
ston, of New York, at Federal Hall, where the sub- 
treasury stands to-day. A magnificent bronze statue 
of Washington now graces tlje spot. 

The manner of life of the chief magistrate of the 
country was a matter to which Washington gave no 
little thought. Considerable ceremony was advised 
on the one hand and none at all on the other. But 



3i8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

with his customary wisdom Washington chose a mid- 
dle course, and while his office was surrounded with 
befitting etiquette and ceremony, he lived simply and 
assumed no arrogant position that could offend the 
equal citizens of a free country. Congress decided 
that the chief magistrate should be known only by 
the title of the President of the United States. 

But difficulties of a graver kind threatened the suc- 
cess of the new government. The Indians of the west 
were still committing depredations on the pioneers. 
The Spaniards at New Orleans hindered the free pas- 
sage of American ships in the great water-way of the 
Mississippi. More than all, the United States and 
its several members had large debts and little or no 
credit. 

Congress had been organized on the 4th of March. 
Before its first session was ended it framed and sub- 
mitted to the several states a number of amendments 
to the Constitution, ten of which were ratified by the 
requisite number of states by December, 1791. The 
first Congress also created bylaw three cabinet offi- 
cers as advisers of the President. According to the 
provisions of the Constitution, Washington nominated 
and the Senate confirmed Thomas Jefferson as Secreta- 
ry of Foreign Affairs (afterward known as Secretary 
of State), Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the 
Treasury, and Henry Knox as Secretary of War. The 
ofhce of Attorney-General, not at that time included in 
the Cabinet, was filled by Edmund Randolph. John 
Jay was appointed the first Chief Justice of the Su- 
preme Court. 

In the fall of 1789 Washington made a tour of New 
England. Starting from New York he proceeded to 
Boston and Portsmouth, returning by way of Hart- 
ford, Everywhere he was received with enthusiasm. 
The success of the early financial measures was 
largely due to the genius of Alexander Hamilton, by 



WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRA TION. 



319 



whose energy wise plans were adopted. He proposed 
that the United States should assume the payment of 
the debts incurred by the individual states in carry- 
ing on the Revolutionary War. These, with the na- 
tional debt, amounted to $75,000,000. Duties were 




GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



levied on imported articles and a tonnage-tax on mer- 
chant ships, American vessels being less taxed than 
foreign ones. By these rrteasures the credit of the 
country rose and the ship-building industry was en- 
couraged. In the early part of 1791 another plan 
which Hamilton advocated was adopted, despite the 
strong opposition of Jefferson and the Republican 
party, and Congress established the Bank of the 



320 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

United States. The charter was for a period of twenty 
years, and the bank was situated at Philadelphia, with 
branches in other places. 

The first census of the United States, taken in the 
year 1790, showed the population of the country to be 
3,929,000. In the same year the seat of government 
was transferred to Philadelphia, and it was agreed 
that in 1800 a suitable location should be chosen on 
the Potomac for the capital of the country. On March 
4, 1791, Vermont, the fourteenth state, was admitted 
into the Union. As early as 1777 the inhabitants of 
Vermont had organized a government despite the 
protests and interference of New York, which claimed 
the territory and jurisdiction, but in 1790 these 
claims were purchased for $30,000. In 1792, on the 
ist of June, Kentucky became the fifteenth state, 
Virginia having given up her claim to the territory. 
The name of Daniel Boone will ever be remembered 
as that of the leading pioneer in this region. In 1790 
the " Territory south of the Ohio " was organized. 

Meanwhile there was trouble in the west with the 
Indians. In the fall of 1790 General Harmar was 
sent against them. Setting out from Fort Washing- 
ton, the capital of the Northv/estern Territory, he was 
at first successful. But in October a part of his force 
was defeated near Fort Wayne, and shortly after oth- 
ers were routed at the Maumee Ford. Harmar was 
obliged to retreat. In September of the next year 
General St. Clair commenced another campaign 
against the Miami confederacy with 2,000 men. He 
had been urgently warned by Washington to beware 
of a surprise, yet when a superior force of Indians as- 
sailed him on November 4th, in Mercer County, Ohio, 
he was off his guard. Half of his force was cut to 
pieces, and St. Clair resigned his commission, though 
exonerated by a congressional committee. General 
Wayne, called " Mad Anthony Wayne " because of his 



WA SHING TON' S A I) MINIS TRA TION. 3 2 1 

courage that bordered on rashness, was appointed in 
his place. 

Two years later Wayne proceeded with 3,000 men 
to the scene of St. Clair's misfortune, and built Fort 
Recovery. In Williams County, Ohio, he constructed 
Fort Defiance. The next summer, the Indians hav- 
ing Rejected his proposals of peace he marched against 
them. On the 20th of August, 1794, he completely 
routed them at Waynesfield and forced them to re- 
linquish their claims to the southern and eastern parts 
of Ohio. 

In the meantime the second national election had 
occurred in the fall of 1792 and Washington and Ad- 
ams were re-elected, commencing their second term 
of office on March 4, 1793. And now foreign compli- 
cations loomed up on the horizon and soon grew to 
threatening proportions. The French Revolution, 
commencing in the same year that Washington was 
first inaugurated, had run a course of violence and 
excess that culminated in the execution of the king 
in 1793. A republican form of government had al- 
ready been established, and war followed with vari- 
ous nations, among which was England. The French 
government sent as a representative to the United 
States " Citizen " Genet. He demanded an alliance 
with the United States against Great Britain, but 
Washington had already issued his famous proclama- 
tion of non-interference with European quarrels, and 
persisted in adhering to the opinions therein ad- 
vanced. He was supported by Hamilton and the 
Federal party, but the Republicans were anxious for 
a war, to aid France and to inflict injuries on England. 
Relying on their support. Genet even threatened to ap- 
peal to the people against Washington, and he had 
already fitted out privateers to prey on English com- 
merce. But the President was firm and demanded 
Genet's recall ; and his demand was heeded. 



32 2 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

But the feelings of the people against Great Brit- 
ain were still bitter. The spirit of the Revolution had 
been reawakened by England's continued possession 
of certain forts in the west contrary to the provisions 
of the treaty of 1783. and by high-handed measures of 
English privateers, acting under instructions to capt- 
ure neutral vessels in the French West Indies, in 
seizing American ships. Moreover, American seamen 
had been impressed into the British service. To pro- 
cure a more friendly line of policy, John Jay, the Chief 
Justice, was sent to England, and he concluded a 
favorable treaty. One of its provisions, however, for 
the payment of debts owed to British subjects before 
the war, was unsatisfactory to the American people, 
and the treaty was violently assailed. But Washing- 
ton urged its adoption in the interests of peace, and^ 
Fisher Ames, of Massachusetts, made a memorable 
address in Congress in its favor. It was finally rati- 
fied in 1795, and the wise policy of Washington had 
saved the nation from war. 

Meanwhile domestic events of importance had been 
going on. Jefferson and Hamilton, though both de- 
sired the re-election of Washington and both were 
members of his Cabinet, were leaders of the two op| 
posing political parties. Jefferson attacked the policy 
of the Treasury Department, and Hamilton criticised 
severely the Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Finally their 
estrangement became too wide for their continuance 
in office together, and Jefferson resigned on the last 
day of December, 1793, retiring to his home at Mon- 
ticello, Virginia. Hamilton also resigned in the early 
part of 1795 and resumed the practice of law in New 
York. 

In 1794 what is known as the " Whisky Rebellion " 
occurred in western Pennsylvania. The people of 
that region, mostly Republicans, rose in arms to resist 
the payment of the tax imposed by Congress on dis- 



WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION. 



323 



tilled spirits. The insurrectionists did not disperse 
till Washington sent a force of militia against them. 
In 1796 Tennessee was admitted to the Union as the 
sixteenth state, North Carolina having relinquished 
her claim to the territory. 

A treaty was made with Spain in October, 1795, by 
which the boundaries between Louisiana and the 
United States were settled and free navigation of the 
Mississippi secured. But in the same year a humili- 
ating agreement was made with the dey of Algiers, 
whose piratical vessels had captured a number of 
American vessels and made their crews slaves. Near- 
ly $800,000 were paid for the liberation of the captives, 
a frigate costing over $100,000 was presented to the 
dey, and an annual tribute was promised. Congress, 
however, had meanwhile set about the work of build- 
ing up a navy to protect American commerce. 

Washington had possessed a wonderful personal in- 
fluence over the people of the United States, and also 
over Congress, even when the House of Representa- 
tives contained a majority of the party opposed to his 
policy. He v/as asked to become a presidential can- 
didate for a third term but refused to do so, and in 
September, 1798, issued to the nation his farewell ad- 
dress, which contained wise and prudent counsel. 
Two candidates appeared for the office of President. 
John Adams was supported by the Federal party, 
which desired to avoid any entangling alliance with 
foreign nations. Thomas Jefferson was the candidate 
oftheanti Federal, or Republican party. The political 
campaign ended with the election of Adams as Presi- 
dent, and Jefferson, who received the next highest num- 
ber of votes, as Vice-President. Washington retired to 
Mount Vernon, thinking his services in behalf of his 
country finally ended. 



324 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



- CHAPTER XLII. 

ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION 1797-180I. 

Sketch of Adams — Renewed troubles with France — Our envoys 
are ordered to leave that country — Preparations for war — Na- 
val engagements — Treaty with Napoleon — The Alien and Se- 
dition laws — Death of Washington — The capital is transferred 
to the District of Columbia — The second census — The North- 
western Territory divided — Jefferson and Burr elected. 

John Adams was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 
1797. He was in his sixty-second year, having been 
born in October, 1735, '^^ ^^^^ P^^^ ^^ Braintree which 
is now Quincy, Massachusetts. A graduate of Har- 
vard College, and following the profession of law, he 
soon rose to a distinguished position in his own state 
and in the nation. He was a prominent member in 
several of the Colonial Congresses, and had been em- 
bassador to France and Holland and the first minis- 
ter to Great Britain after the peace. For eight years 
he had been Vice-President, and now he assumed the 
chief magistracy of the nation. 

The foreign complications had not ceased with the 
administration of Washington. Adet, the French 
minister to the United States, urged, and finally the 
directory which at that time governed France de- 
manded, an alliance against England. The treaty of 
1795 with that nation was especially obnoxious to 
France. The French navy had received orders to 
prey on the commerce of the United States, and 
Charles C. Pinckney, the American minister, had 
been ordered to leave the country. 



ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION. 



325 



These acts, which threatened war, forced the Presi- 
dent to convene Congress in extraordinary session. 
Elbridge Gerry and John Marshall were appointed 
envoys, in company with Pinckney, to attempt a rec- 
onciliation with France. When it was suggested to 




JOHN ADAMS. 



these embassadors that the payment of a consider- 
able sum of money might insure a favorable hearing, 
Pinckney made use of the famous expression, " Mill- 
ions for defense, but not one cent for tribute." He 
and Marshall were ordered to leave France, and the 
United States afterward recalled Gerry. 



326 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Measures were at once taken to prepare for war. 
The navy was increased and a Department of the 
Navy created, Benjamin Stoddard, of Maryland, be- 
ing the first secretary. The army also was increased, 
Washington was called from his retirement at Mount 
Vernon to become commander-in-chief, and Alex- 
ander Hamilton was selected as the active com- 
mander. Commodore Truxton, with the ship Con- 
stellation^ in February, 1799, gained a victory over 
the French man-of-war rinsurgente while cruising 
in the West Indies. Later on he also defeated the 
French vessel La Vengeance, but in the night the 
Frenchman escaped capture. 

Beyond a few events of this sort, however, no con- 
flict between the nations took place. Talleyrand, in 
direction of the foreign relations of the French re- 
public, hearing of the preparations for war, hinted at 
a resumption of diplomatic relations, and Mr. Mur- 
ray, our embassador at Holland, was appointed to 
France. Now it was that Napoleon Bonaparte ac- 
quired the chief power in France under the title of 
Consul. He was desirous of avoiding the alliance 
between England and the United States, which would 
have been inevitable had France persisted in her 
course, and when Murray arrived at Paris in March, 
1800, with Oliver Ellsworth and William Davie as 
his associates, they found that negotiations could be 
successfully attempted. In September a treaty was 
concluded, and the danger of war was avoided for the 
time. 

In the summer of 1798 the excitement about for- 
eign affairs led to much fierce discussion. To re- 
strict violent utterances Congress passed the Alien 
and Sedition laws. By the first of these the period 
for the naturalization of foreigners was increased to 
fourteen years, and the President was empowered 
to send out of the United States any foreigner whose 



ADAMS ADMINISTRATION. 



327 



presence he deemed dangerous to the public welfare. 
The Sedition Law punished with fine and imprison- 
ment the writing or uttering of "any false, scandal- 
ous, or malicious statement" concerning the Presi- 
dent or Congress. These laws were bitterly de- 
nounced by many people as despotic and tyrannical. 
Though the first of them was never carried into ef- 
fect, they made the administration unpopular and 
aided materially in the defeat of the Federal party in 
the next election. 

Washington did not live to see the danger of war 
averted. On the 14th of December, 1799, he died at 
Mount Vernon. The mournful tidings that he had 
passed away were received with profound sorrow by 
the people. Their grief was expressed by solemn 
services, and public bodies adjourned. Congress in a 
body listened to an eloquent eulogy from the mouth 
of General Henry Lee. 

In the year 1800 the capital of the country was 
transferred to the city of Washington, at that time a 
curious combination of huts and half-finished build- 
ings of greater pretension, with a small population. 
The District of Columbia, within which the city is 
located, was a tract of land ten miles square lying on 
both sides of the Potomac, partly in Maryland and 
partly in Virginia. These states had ceded the terri- 
tory to the national government, but the portion 
which lay on the southern side of the river was after- 
ward given back to Virginia. The census of 1800 
showed that in ten years the population of the coun- 
try had increased to over 5,000,000 of souls, the post- 
offices from seventy-five to 903, and the exports from 
$20,000,000 to over $70,000,000. 

During this year the Northwestern Territory was 
divided, the eastern portion being called the Terri- 
tory of Ohio and the remainder Indiana Territory. 
General William Henry Harrison was made governor 
of the latter, with his capital at Vincennes. 



^2S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The election which occurred in the fall of this year 
was preceded by a bitter campaign. The candidates 
of the Federalists were John Adams and Charles C. 
Pinckney. The Republicans, or Democrats, put for- 
ward Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. The latter 
candidates received in the electoral college an equal 
number of votes and more than either Adams or Pinck- 
ney. The Federal party never returned to power. 

As the law then stood, it devolved on the House of 
Representatives to decide which of the Republican 
candidates should occupy the office of chief magis- 
trate. On the thirty-sixth ballot Jefferson was chosen 
President and Burr became Vice-President. 



JEFFERSON S A D MINIS TRA TION, 329 



CHAPTER XLIII. 

Jefferson's administration — 1 801-1809. 

Sketch of Jefferson — Democratic simplicity — Removals from of- 
fice — Ohio admitted to the Union — Louisiana purchased — 
Importance of the acquisition — Organization of the region — 
Explorations of Lewis and Clark — War with the Barbary 
States — Decatur's exploit — The war ended — Duel of Burr and 
Hamilton — Jefferson re-elected — Clinton Vice-President — 
Change in the method of election — Burr and Blennerhas- 
sett — The former acquitted of treason — His subsequent ca- 
reer — France and England — Arbitrary actions of the latter — 
The right of search — The Chesapeake and leopard — The Em- 
bargo Act — Robert Fulton — His invention of the steamboat — 
Madison elected as President — Clinton re-elected. 

Thomas Jefferson received the oath of office on March 
4, 1801, from John Marshall, whom Adams had appoint- 
ed Chief Justice in January. Jefferson was born in 
Albemarle County, Virginia, in April, 1743, and thus 
became President at about the age of fifty-eight. He 
spent some time at the college of William and Mary, 
and then entered on the practice of law. In the Vir- 
ginia legislature he had done much to encourage the 
movement for freedom, and as a member of the Co- 
lonial Congress he had been almost the sole author of 
the Declaration of Independence. He had been em- 
bassador abroad. Secretary of Foreign Affairs under 
Washington, and Vice-President. To him we owe our 
decimal system of coinage. 

Jefferson was a firm believer in democratic sim- 
plicity. He rode to the capitol on horseback, escorted 
by militia and citizens, and delivered a short in- 



330 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

augural address to Congress. His next message to 
that body was carried by a secretary, and this be- 
came the established custom. He also believed in 
rotation in office, asserting that the policy of the ad- 
ministration could only be successfully carried out by 
officials of the same political principles. He therefore 
gave the chief offices to men of his own party — a cus- 
tom which heretofore had not been generally adopted 
at the commencement cf an administration. In ref- 
erence to one of his removals he said: " If due par- 
ticipation of office is a matter of right, how are vacan- 
cies to be obtained ? Those by death are few, by res- 
ignation none." 

The Alien and Sedition laws had already expired 
by limitation, but Jefferson renewed his protest against 
them and granted pardons to all who had been im- 
prisoned under the latter. In 1802 the state of Ohio 
was organized and admitted to the Union. In the same 
year the organization of the Mississippi Territory was 
completed, Georgia having ceded to the national gov- 
ernment her claims to the region extending from her 
western border to the Mississippi River. 

The most important event of Jefferson's adminis- 
tration was the acquisition of Louisiana. Napoleon, 
by a secret treaty with Spain, had come into posses- 
sion of the whole of this vast territory. New Orleans, 
which had heretofore been used as a place of deposit 
for American merchandise, was no longer available 
for that purpose, and Napoleon, moreover, meditated 
sending an army to establish French sovereignty in 
Louisiana. Against the latter proceeding the United 
States remonstrated, and Jefferson sent James Mon- 
roe to act with Mr. Livingston at Paris in negotiating 
the purchase of New Orleans. Napoleon, short of 
funds and threatened with an English war, offered to 
sell the whole territory of Louisiana. His offer was 
accepted, and the terms of the cession were signed by 



JEFFER SON' S A D MINIS TRA TION. ^2, ^ 

the agents of the United States and France on April 
30, 1803. The United States paid Napoleon $11,- 
250,000 and assumed debts due from France to Ameri- 
can citizens to the extent of $3,750,000. 

The region thus acquired embraced more than 




THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



1,000,000 square miles of territory, extending over the 
larger part — all the northern and eastern portions — 
of the vast region west of the Mississippi, and that 
great water-way of the country now lay entirely with- 
in the jurisdiction of the United States, from its source 
to its mouth. It is not strange that Livingston ex- 



332 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

claimed: "We have lived long, but this is the noblest 
work of our whole lives." Napoleon also appreciated 
the importance of the cession, and is said to have re- 
marked: "I have just given to England a maritime 
rival that will, sooner or later, humble her pride." 
The purchase was somewhat in opposition to the prin- 
ciples held by Jefferson and his party, and the Presi- 
dent believed that a constitutional amendment would 
have to be passed. But none was found necessary, 
and the Senate ratified the treaty on the 19th of Octo- 
ber, 1803. Portions of the boundary-line were in dis- 
pute for some years, but so far as Spain was con- 
cerned the differences were settled by the treaty of 
1819, and the treaty of 1846 with Great Britain settled 
the remainder. 

The southern part of the newly acquired region, 
what is now the state of Louisiana, was organized 
under the name of the Territory of Orleans ; the 
other portions retained the name of the Territory of 
Louisiana. In the spring of 1804 Captain Lewis and 
Captain Clark were sent with a party to explore the 
northern part of this region, and after an absence of 
over two years returned with the story of the roman- 
tic adventures and hair-breadth escapes they had been 
through, and what was more important, a detailed ac- 
count of the geography and resources of the country. 
In 1805 a part of the Northwestern Territory was or- 
ganized as a separate territory, under the name of 
Michigan. 

Meanwhile the Barbary States in the north of Africa 
were interfering with our commerce. Commodore 
Preble was sent against them with a squadron in 
1803. In the February following Lieutenant Decatur 
performed a brilliant exploit. The frigate Philadel- 
phia had run aground and been captured in the har- 
bor of Tripoli. Decatur sailed into the port with a 
force of less than eighty men, boarded the Fhiladel- 



JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRA TION. ' 333 

phia under the guns of the enemy, killed or forced 
overboard every one of her defenders, set fire to the 
vessel, and escaped without losing a man and with 
only four wounded. 

Commodore Preble brought his fleet against Trip- 
oli and commenced a bombardment in the summer of 

1804. While he was prosecuting the siege, negotia- 
tions were opened to secure the co-operation of 
Hamet, the deposed sovereign of Tripoli, against 
Yusef, the ruler at this time. He aided the Ameri- 
cans in capturing the seaport of Derne, and Yusef was 
brought to terms. A treaty was concluded in June, 

1805, by which $60,000 were paid by the United States 
to secure the liberation of captive sailors, but for a 
time the depredations ceased. 

While these peaceable and warlike actions were 
being carried on with foreign nations, a mournful 
event had occurred at home. The Vice-President, 
Aaron Burr, seeing no hope of his renomination, 
sought the governorship of New York, but was de- 
feated. Alexander Hamilton, a leading power in that 
state, took an active part against him, and raised his 
bitter enmity. Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel, 
and on July 11, 1804, the principals met at Weehaw- 
ken, across the Hudson from New York. Hamilton 
fired in the air, but his antagonist less generously took 
careful aim, and Hamilton fell mortally wounded. 
Thus perished one of the most brilliant men in our 
history. Burr was well received thereafter in some 
quarters, but at the close of his term of office he found 
that his political career was ruined. 

Jefferson, on the contrary, was re-elected in the fall 
of this year, and George Clinton, of New York, was 
chosen Vice-President. The defeated Federalist can- 
didates were Charles C. Pinckney, of South Carolina, 
and Rufus King, of New York. The twelfth amend- 
ment to the Constitution had been proposed by Con- 



334 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

gress and ratified by the necessary number of states. 
By the terms of this amendment the President and 
Vice-President were to be voted for separately by the 
electoral college, so that in the future there could be 
no possibility of the House of Representatives being 
left to choose between two men who had received an 
equal number of votes. It will be remembered that 
under the old law it had taken many ballots after the 
last election to decide whether Burr or Jefferson 
should be the chief magistrate, though there could be 
no doubt of the people's intentions. 

The career of Burr after he left office became his- 
torical. He went to the west and finally arranged a 
scheme with Harman Blennerhassett, who had come 
from Ireland and settled on a charming island in the 
Ohio River. Burr was accused of plotting the sepa- 
ration of the southern and western states from the 
Union, and by military force organizing another gov- 
ernment, of which he was to be the head. He was 
arrested and tried at Richmond, Virginia, on a charge 
of treason; but sufficient proof could not be obtained 
to secure his conviction and he was acquitted. He 
afterward went abroad and returned some years later, 
to practice law in New York and finally die in ob- 
scurity. 

During Jefferson's second term of office trouble 
threatened with Great Britain, and those events oc- 
curred which led directly to the War of 1812. France 
and England were engaged at this time in a bitter 
conflict that taxed the resources of each nation. In 
May, 1806, England proclaimed a blockade of the 
northern coast of France, and in November Napoleon 
replied with his Berlin Decree for the blockade of En- 
glish ports. A year later Great Britain issued her 
famous Orders in Council prohibiting commerce with 
any part of Europe except Russia. The next month — 
December, 1807 — Napoleon retaliated with the Milan 



JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRA TION. -^^^t^ 

Decree, forbidding the carrying on of trade with Eng- 
land or her colonies. 

These and similar acts were in direct violation of 
the law of nations, but France and England enforced 
their blockades so far as they were able, and neutral 
vessels, including many from the United States, were 
seized. Moreover, Great Britain had revived an eld 
rule prohibiting trade by neutral vessels with the de- 
pendencies of any nation with whom she was at war. 
As a result of these various arbitrary actions, the 
American carrying-trade, which was beginning to as- 
sume considerable proportions, received a serious 
blow. 

But British arrogance went still further: not satis- 
fied with injury to our commerce, she meanwhile had 
added insult to our flag. In pursuance of her theory 
that a person of English birth always remained an 
English subject, she refused to recognize the right of 
emigrants from her shores to become the subjects or 
citizens of another nation, and British men-of-war 
claimed the right of searching American vessels for 
those whom she claimed to be her subjects and im- 
pressing them into the English service. On June 
22, 1807, the American frigate Chesapeake was hailed 
off Virginia by the British man-of-war Leopard. En- 
glish officers boarded our ship as friends and then 
demanded the right of searching her for so-called de- 
serters. Commodore Barron, of course, refused to 
comply; but before he could get ready for action 
the Leopard fired on the Chesapeake and compelled 
her submission. Four men were taken from our ves- 
sel, one of whom proved to be in reality a deserter; 
but the other three were American citizens. The 
government of Great Britain disavowed this proceed- 
ing but made no reparation. 

This was too much to be borne in silence. Jeffer- 
son immediately forbade British ships of war to enter 
American ports, and on December 22d Congress 



33^ 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



passed an Embargo Act. This law prohibited ex- 
portations and the sailing of American vessels from 
home ports. Its intention was to force England and 
France to acknowledge our rights as neutrals entitled 
to respect, by showing the importance of our com- 
mercial relations. But its chief result actually was 
utterly runious to American commerce, and in the 
eastern states it was violently denounced. Its oppo- 
nents, spelling the name backward, called it the " O 
grab me "Act. A few days before Jefferson's ad- 
ministration closed it was repealed, after having been 
in force about fourteen months. 

The domestic event of chief importance in Jeffer- 
son's second administration is connected with the 
name of Robert Fulton. Commencing life as an art- 
ist, he left painting for engineering pursuits and built 
the Clermofit, the first practical steamboat ever con- 
structed. On September 2, 1807, before the eyes of 
an astonished throng of people, he started from New 
York on a voyage up the Hudson. Albany was 
reached the next day, and for many years the Cler- 
mont continued its trips between these two cities with 
a speed of about five miles an hour. The importance 
of the application of steam-power to the purposes of 
navigation is too widely appreciated to need elabora- 
tion. It was one of the greatest inventions which the 
world has ever known, and the thousands of craft 
which to-day ply the waters of the globe testify to its 
usefulness. 

Jefferson's administration came to a close in 1809. 
In the fall of the preceding year Jefferson, although 
asked on many sides to stand for a third election, fol- 
lowed the precedent set by Washington and refused. 
James Madison was nominated by the Republicans, 
with which party he was now allied, as President. He 
was elected to that office and George Clinton was re- 
elected Vice-President, the defeated candidates being 
as at the last election, Pinckney and King. 



MA BISON ' S A DM IN IS TRA TION. t^ZI 



CHAPTER XLIV. 

Madison's administration — 1809-1817 — the war of 
1812 commenced. 

Sketch of Madison — The Non-Intercourse Act — " Free trade and 
sailors' rights" — The President and Little Belt — The third 
census — Louisiana admitted to the Union — Indian conspira- 
cy — Tecumseh and the Prophet — The battle of Tippecanoe — 
Harrison subdues the Indians — The "Henry affair" — War 
declared with England — Condition of the United States for 
the struggle — Hull invades Canada — He withdraws — And 
soon surrenders Detroit to the British — Is tried and con- 
demned for cowardice — Massacre at Fort Dearborn — The Ni- 
agara frontier — The Americans cross to Queenstown and are 
defeated — Smyth succeeds Van Rennselaer — But accomplishes 
nothing — Naval battles — The Constitution and Guerriere and 
others — Success of American privateers- — Madison re-elect- 
ed — Gerry chosen Vice-President. 

James Madison was inaugurated as the fourth Presi- 
dent of the United States on the 4th of March, 1809. 
He was nearing the close of his fifty-eighth year, hav- 
ing been born on the i6th of March, 1751, in King 
George County, Virginia. He had been graduated 
at Princeton College and had entered the practice of 
law. His disposition was quiet and calm, but he had 
entered heartily into the counsels of the patriots, and 
had rendered good service to his country as a mem- 
ber of the Continental Congress and in other quar- 
ters. His political opinions had changed since he 
joined with Hamilton and Jay in writing the Federal- 
ist^ and he had for eight years been Jefferson's Secre- 
tary of State. 

From his acquaintance with the foreign relations of 



338 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

our government he was well fitted to cope with the 
increasing difficulties, but he favored a peace policy, 
and at last reluctantly came to see that war was inev- 
itable. The Non-Intercourse Act took the place of the 
Embargo Act, and now American vessels were only 
prohibited from trading with Great Britain. The in- 
sulting right of search was still insisted on by that 
country, and 6,000 seamen were pressed into the Brit- 
ish service The people of the United States could hope 
for little consideration from their old enemy, George 
III., who still occupied the throne of England, an old 
and half-insane king. A bitter feeling grew and 
strengthened against the arrogance of the English 
government. "Free trade and sailors' rights " was 
the motto adopted by the people. 

On May 16, 181 1, the American frigate President^ 
hailing the British sloop of war Little Belt^ received 
a cannon-ball by way of answer. Commodore 
Rodgers sent a broadside in response, silenced the 
Englishman, and inflicted a loss of eleven killed and 
twenty-one wounded. The sentiments of the nation 
were now more strongly than ever in favor of war. 

While the cloud is gathering we must look for a 
moment at certain domestic interests. The census of 
1810 showed a population of nearly 7,240,000. To the 
seventeen states already in existence Louisiana was 
added on the 8th of April, 181 2, before the declara- 
tion of war with England. This was the first state 
west of the Mississippi. 

Trouble had been threatening for some time with 
the Indians of the northwest, who had been united in 
a wide-spread conspiracy by the ability of Tecumseh, 
or Tecumtha, of the Shawnee tribe, and his brother 
Elkswatawa, called the Prophet, whose pretended 
connection with a supernatural world created awe 
and respect for him among the savages. Governor 
Harrison, of the Northwestern Territory, purchased 



MADISON'S ADMINISTRA TION. 



339 



from the Indians, by a treaty at Fort Wayne in 1809, 
their claims to large areas of land, but Tecumseh re- 
fused his assent to the agreement. To prepare for 
the impending danger a force of soldiers was gath- 
ered together. Indian outrages occurred, and Harri- 
son marched against the savages while Tecumseh was 




JAMES MADISON. 



in the south. As he neared the Prophet's town of 
Tippecanoe he was met by messengers, who asked for 
a conference on the following day. Harrison agreed, 
but knowing the treachery of the Indian nature, com- 
manded the soldiers to lie upon their arms during the 
night. His preparation was not useless. Before the 



340 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

sun rose on the next morning, November 7, 181 1, the 
savages, creeping -along the ground, suddenly fell 
upon the camp. The soldiers sprung to arms, and 
after a fierce struggle utterly overwhelmed the ene- 
my. The town was burned, and Tecumseh, return- 
ing to find his people subdued, departed to Canada, 
cast in his lot with the British, and played a promi- 
nent part in the war that soon broke out. 

The opening of that conflict was almost at hand. 
The spirit of the country had been further excited by 
the revelation, in the early part of 181 2, of a plot 
against the United States. Sir James Craig, the 
governor of Canada, had employed an adventurer, 
John Henry by name, to further his scheme of es- 
tranging the eastern states from the national gov- 
ernment. He relied on the suffering caused among 
these people of commercial interests by the Embargo 
Act and other measures of the government, to secure 
their secession and union with Canada. Henry made 
little progress in th2 accomplishment of the design, 
and failing to secure a recompense from the English 
ministry, sold the account of the whole affair to the 
United States government for $50,000. Such was the 
'^ Henry affair." 

Madison was not inclined to war, but his party as 
a whole was. The war party in Congress, led by John 
C. Calhoun and Henry Clay, was too strong for the 
Federalists and the anti-War Democrats. Madison was 
assured that a continuance of his peace policy would 
prevent his re-election, and, authorized by Congress, 
he declared war against Great Britain on the 19th of 
June, 1812. Provision was made for an army and 
for calling out the militia. Henry Dearborn, of Mas- 
sachusetts, was appointed commander-in-chief, and 
the President was authorized to borrow $11,000,000. 

England, indeed, was still occupied by her strug- 
gle with Napoleon, but through her powerful navy 



MADISON'S ADMINISTRA TION. 



341 



she was mistress of the seas, and her wealth was 
great. The United States, on the contrary, had a 
small army and a navy almost insignificant compared 
with that of Great Britain. Her vast extent of sea- 
coast was but partially protected by forts. Moreover, 
the war was bitterly opposed in many quarters of the 
country, and even threats of secession were heard. 
New England was especially outspoken against the 
war policy. 

Nevertheless the United States commenced an ag- 
gressive movement on land. General William Hull, 
the governor of Michigan Territory, crossed in July 
from Detroit to Sandwich. He had a force of about 
300 regulars and 1,200 volunteers and meditated the 
capture of Maiden. Now the news came that the 
British had captured Mackinaw, and though Hull 
might have attacked Maiden with success, he caught 
at the excuse and returned to Detroit, 

Soon General Brock arrived at Maiden and took 
command of the British forces. He crossed the river 
with Tecumseh and advanced to Detroit on the 16th 
of August. The Americans were eager for battle and 
the gunners stood ready by their cannon. As the 
British drew near they were surprised and the Amer- 
icans were equally amazed — Hull had displayed a 
white flag, and the coward surrendered the post and 
Michigan Territory, with all his force, to the enemy. 
Some time after the United States secured possession 
of Hull by exchange, and a court-martial found him 
guilty of cowardice and conduct unbecoming an of- 
ficer. He was sentenced to be shot, but was pardoned 
by the President in consideration of his Revolutionary 
services. Many excuses were afterward given for 
Hull's surrender, and his name has been partially re- 
lieved from dishonor. 

The day before the disgraceful surrender of De- 
troit, Fort Dearborn, on the spot where Chicago now 



342 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Stands, was surrendered to the Indians. The garri- 
son were promised safety but many of them were 
massacred and the fort was burned. 

The American force on the Niagara, largely com- 
posed of the New York miiitia, was under the command 
of General Van Rennselaer. On the 13th of October 
he crossed the river from Lewiston to Queenstown 
with 1,000 men. The landing was fiercely contested 
but the Americans gained the shore, and under the 
leadership of Captain Wool they charged the heights 
and captured the English guns. General Brock led 
his men to recover their battery but was repulsed 
and wounded fatally. Now Lieutenant-Colonel Scott 
arrived with a small re-enforcement from Lewiston, 
but the bulk of the force at that place, consisting of 
New York militia, refused to go out of their state. 
They stood on their constitutional rights while the 
brave men across the river struggled in vain against 
a re-enforced enemy. One hundred and sixty men 
were killed or wounded and few of the remainder 
escaped capture. 

Van Rennselaer, naturally enough, was disgusted 
at the action of the New York militia and resigned 
his command. General Smyth, who succeeded him, 
accomplished nothing of value. He issued pompous 
proclamations, but failed to support a force of 
Americans who gained the Canadian shore from 
Black Rock, near Buffalo, and recalled these and an- 
other party who were about to cross. He was 
charged with cowardice, the militia grew unruly 
under his command, and he finally resigned. 

The poor success of the Americans by land was 
offset by several brilliant naval battles. The first of 
these occurred on the 19th of August off the coast of 
Massachusetts. Captain Dacres, of the British frigate 
Guerriere, in spite of boasts he had made, was forced 
to surrender after a fierce attack by the Constitution^ 



MADISON'S ADMINISTRA TION. 



343 



called " Old Ironsides," commanded by Captain Isaac 
Hull, who had none of the cowardice of his uncle 
the general. The British lost fifteen killed and sixty- 
three wounded, and the Guerriere \y3.s so badly in- 
jured that she had to be destroyed. The American 
loss was only fourteen in killed and wounded. 

On the i8th of October, off Virginia, the sloop of 
war Wasp, of eighteen guns, commanded by Captain 
Jacob Jones, attacked the brig Frolic, of twenty-two 
guns, which was convoying a fleet of British mer- 
chant vessels. After a murderous fire on both sides 
the Americans boarded the Frolic. They found only 
one able man, the helmsman, on deck, and themselves 
hauled down the British flag. The rest of the crew 
were killed or wounded or had gone below. Shortly 
after the victory the Poictiers, a British vessel carry- 
ing seventy-four guns, appeared on the scene and 
captured the Wasp and her well-earned prize. 

A few days after this battle the frigate Ufiited 
States, under the command of Commodore Decatur, 
captured the British frigate Macedonian near the 
Canary Islands. The Americans suffered little loss 
and inflicted much. Two days before the year closed 
the ConstitutioJi, commanded by Commodore Bain- 
bridge, fell in with the British f rigate y<^z^^ off Brazil. 
A terrible engagement of more than two hours took 
place. When at last the Java had lost every spar 
and a large part of her crew she struck her colors. 
She had been riddled with shot and had to be 
burned. 

These victories over the proud mistress of the seas 
caused unbounded enthusiasm in the United States 
and equal dismay in England. And besides these 
battles, American privateers by the close of the year 
had captured nearly 300 merchant vessels and over 
3,000 prisoners. 

In the fall of 1812 the national election occurred 



344 HISrOR\ OF THE UNITED STATES. 

and Madison was chosen President for a second term. 
George Clinton had died in the preceding April, and 
Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts, was elected Vice- 
President. 



MADISON'S ADMINISTRA TION. 



345 



CHAPTER XLV. 

Madison's administration — continued — events 
OF 1813. 

Massacre of Kentuckians on the River Raisin — Fort Meigs be- 
sieged — The British withdraw — Proctor defeated at Fort Ste- 
phenson — The battle of Lake Erie — "We have met the ene- 
my, and they are ours " — Consequences of Perry's victory — 
The British defeated at the Thames — Tecumseh killed — The 
Creek War — Massacre at Fort Mimms — Andrew Jackson takes 
a leading part in the war — The Indians defeated at the Horse- 
shoe Bend of the Tallapoosa — York captured — Fort George 
occupied — Brown drives the British from Sackett's Harbor — 
Wilkinson succeeds Dearborn — He proceeds down the St. 
Lawrence — The battle of Chrysler's Field — The British burn 
towns on the Niagara frontier — Naval battles — The Chesapeake 
and Shannoji — Lawrence killed — " Don't give up the ship" — 
The British navy harass the coast. 

The campaign of 1813 was opened by the army of 
the west. General Winchester advanced early in Jan- 
uary from Fort Defiance, on the Maumee, and a de- 
tachment of his force captured Frenchtown, on the 
River Raisin. Winchester now arrived, and on the 
22d of the month was attacked by the British and In- 
dians under General Proctor. The victory was hotly 
contested, but finally Winchester was captured and 
advised his men to accept the promise of safety and 
to surrender. Proctor at once departed with the 
British to Maiden, and the Indians, maddened by the 
liquor they had obtained, fell upon the Americans 
with fiendish ferocity. They murdered many of the 
Americans, set fire to houses filled with wounded, and 
carried away numerous captives to Detroit, where they 



346 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

fixed a large ransom for their release. Many of the 
victims were Kentuckians, and their comrades fought 
afterward under the battle-cry of " Remember the 
River Raisin." 

General Harrison, now in command, built Fort 
Meigs, where he was besieged by Proctor and Tecum- 
seh on the first day of May; but General Clay came 
to the rescue with 1,200 Kentuckians, and after a 
sharp conflict succeeded in raising the siege. The 
Indians acted with their customary ferocity toward 
the unfortunate men who fell into their hands. On 
one occasion Tecumseh saved a prisoner from the 
brutality of the savages, and he even rebuked Proctor, 
for complaining that he could not restrain the Indians, 
by sternly exclaiming: "Go put on petticoats: you 
are not fit to command men." 

It was not till July that the British and Indians, 
4,000 in number, under Proctor and Tecumseh, re- 
turned to Fort Meigs. Failing to draw out the 
garrison, Proctor marched with 1,800 men against Fort 
Stephenson, at Lower Sandusky. Colonel Croghan, 
in command at that post, had but one cannon and 160 
men. The commandant was but twenty-one years of 
age, but he was brave as a lion. He refused to sur- 
render while a man was left alive. On August 2d the 
British stormed the fort and swarmed into the trench. 
Croghan had placed his gun so as to rake the ditch, 
and he poured a deadly charge into the crowded mass 
of the enemy. Few escaped from the trench, and 
Proctor abandoned the siege. 

It was now seen that the control of Lake Erie was 
necessary to an aggressive movement on Canada. A 
British squadron of six vessels, under Commodore 
Barclay, mounting in all sixty-three guns, com- 
manded its waters. But Commodore Oliver H. Perry, 
a young man of twenty-eight years of age, gathered 
or built a fleet of nine vessels, carrying fifty-four guns. 



MADISON'S ADMINISTKA TION. 347 

On the loth of September the squadrons encountered 
each othernear Put-in Bay, in the western part of the 
lake. Perry's flag-ship, the Lawrefice^ opened the bat- 
tle by attacking Barclay's vessel, the Detroit. The 
Laivrence suffered frightfully in vessel and crew, 
though the Detroit was in nearly as bad a condition. 

Now Perry performed the feat of which Ameri- 
cans will never be tired of hearing. Jumping into 
a boat he was rowed to the Niagara. Standing 
erect, he passed uninjured through a storm of balls, 
and transferred his flag to this vessel, which was in 
good condition. With the Niagara he broke the 
British line of battle, pouring terrific broadsides 
on either side. In a few minutes the battle was won. 
Perry returned to the bloody decks of the Laivrence^ 
to receive the surrender, and he sent to General Har- 
rison the well-known dispatch: "We have met the 
enemy, and they are ours: two ships, two brigs, one 
schooner, and one sloop." 

The news of this victory was received with un- 
bounded enthusiasm, and its results were most im- 
portant. Harrison's army was soon transported across 
the lake and landed near Maiden. The British re- 
treated and the Americans pursued. Finally Proctor 
and Tecumseh made a stand at a strong position on 
the River Thames. There, on the 5th of October, the 
Americans under Harrison and Governor Shelby, of 
Kentucky, attacked the enemy. A charge of Colonel 
Johnson with his Kentucky cavalry broke the line of 
the British regulars, and Proctor fled from the field. 
The Indians, who lay in a swamp, fought bravely un- 
der the direction of Tecumseh till a ball ended the 
life of the great chieftain; then the savages fled. 
The victory was gained, but the gallant Johnson had 
been seriously wounded. This was all made possible 
by Perry's victory on Lake Erie. The results of 
Hull's cowardice had been reversed and Michigan had 



348 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

been recovered. Lake Erie was in possession of the 
Americans, Ohio was safe, and the Indian confed- 
eracy had been broken. 

Now in another part of the country we have to hear 
of trouble with Indians that likewise resulted final- 
ly in their overthrow. The Creeks of Alabama ha<i 
risen to arms and surprised Fort Mimms', forty miles 
to the north of Mobile, on the 30th of August. Here 
they murdered about 400 men, women, and children. 
The news of this massacre brought numerous bodies 
of militia from all the surroundmg region. General 
Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee, was the leading figure 
in this campaign. General Coffee defeated the sav- 
ages at Tallushatchee, burned the town, and inflicted 
a severe punishment. Jackson, on November 8th, 
routed them at Talladega, and other battles were 
gained by the whites. 

The war extended into the next spring. In Janu- 
ary, 1814, the troops of Tennessee gained a victory at 
Emucfau. The last conflict of the Creek War took 
place on the 27th of March. The Indians had taken 
a strong position at the Horseshoe Bend of the Talla- 
poosa River. Coffee surrounded the savages with part 
of the force, and Jackson with the main body led the 
assault. Six hundred of the Indians perished, and all 
that were left were only too glad to submit. 

Having followed the Creek War to its close, we now 
return to the spring of 1813 and northern operations. 
Lake Ontario was controlled by the Americans. Gen- 
eral Dearborn, in command of the army of the cen- 
ter, embarked his forces from Sackett's Harbor to 
capture the British post at York, now Toronto. Gen- 
eral Pike led the assaulting party on April 27th, and 
he succeeded in forcing a landing and driving back 
the British. Now the powder-magazine of the enemy 
blew up, and scores of the Americans and many of 
the British were killed. Pike himself was mortally 



MADISON'S ADMINISTRA TION. 



349 



wounded, but his men rallied and routed the British. 
Many prisoners were taken, and a large quantity of 
military stores fell into the hands of the Americans. 

The Americans now re-embarked and proceeded to 
Fort George, at the mouth of the Niagara River. The 
British destroyed their magazines and retired to Bur- 
lington, whither the Americans pursued. The enemy 
attacked them in the night, but were repulsed. They 
succeeded, however, in capturing the American gen- 
erals Chandler and Winder. 

Meanwhile Sackett's Harbor had been left without 
sufficient defense. Sir George Prevost, governor of 
Canada, led a force against it in the last days of May 
and destroyed some stores. General Jacob Brown, 
however, collected the militia on short notice and 
drove the British back to their boats. 

General Dearborn resigned his commission during 
the summer and General Wilkinson took his place. 
A plan was formed for the capture of Montreal. Wil- 
kinson was to advance down the St. Lawrence, and 
General Wade Hampton, in command of the army of 
the north in the neighborhood of Lake Champlain, 
was to join him. In the early part of November the 
Americans sailed down the St. Lawrence, but the en- 
emy followed on the banks and offered obstructions. 
Finally a force of Americans, under General Brown, 
were landed, and a battle took place at Chrysler's 
Field on November nth. Our forces lost about 300 
men and the British about 200, but the battle was not 
decisive. Wilkinson proceeded down the river to St. 
Regis, where Hampton was expected to join him. But 
the latter failed to arrive, and Wilkinson settled for 
the winter at French Mills, now Fort Covington, nine 
miles from St. Regis. 

Meanwhile the British had advanced against Fort 
George, and the Americans, after burning Newark, 
were forced to withdraw. The enemy soon crossed 



35 o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 

the river, captured Fort Niagara, and set fire to Buf- 
falo, Lewiston, and several other villages. So close 
the campaigns of 1813 on land. 

During the year several memorable battles had 
taken place at sea. On the 24th of February the 
sloop of war Hornet, Captain James Lawrence, ran 
across the British brig Peacock, near the mouth of the 
Demarara River, in South America. After a short en- 
gagement of fifteen minutes, but terrible while it 
lasted, the Peacock surrendered. She sunk almost im- 
mediately. Lawrence afterward returned to Boston 
and took command of the frigate Chesapeake. He 
received a challenge to fight from Captain Broke, of 
the British frigate Shanno/i. He accepted, somewhat 
rashly, as his crew was not full, unpaid, and therefore 
somewhat unruly. The engagement occurred near 
Cape Ann and was short and bloody. Every one of 
the principal officers was killed or wounded early in 
the conflict, and Lawrence himself received a mortal 
shot. As he was carried below he gave utterance to 
the well-known order, " Don't give up the ship." In 
vain his heroism. The British were already boarding 
his vessel and hoisting the flag of England in place of 
the stars and stripes. The Shannon towed her capt- 
ure to Halifax. Lawrence died on the way and was 
buried in port with the honors of war, his remains 
subsequently being removed to Trinity church-yard, 
at New York. 

On the 14th of August the American brig Argus, 
after she had succeeded in making prizes of twenty or 
more merchant vessels, was herself overtaken and 
captured by the British brig Pelican. On the 5th of 
the next month the Boxer, a British brig, was captured 
by the American vessel Enterprise. The British com- 
mander was killed in the action and the captain of 
the Enterprise was mortally wounded. Both were 
buried together with equal honors. 



MA DJSOiV S AD MINIS TEA TION. 3 ^ i 

During the year the British vessels of war had been 
hovering on our coast, striking a blow when occasion 
offered. The squadron on the New England coast 
had acted with some humanity, but not so the vessels 
in Delaware and Chesapeake bays. In the former 
Lewistown was bombarded after its inhabitants had 
refused to furnish provisions to the enemy or to sur- 
render the town. Much injury was done and the peo- 
ple fled. On the Chesapeake several villages were 
burned. 

The campaigns on land had resulted on the whole 
favorably for the American cause. Among the naval 
battles Perry's victory was especially noteworthy. 
The others were bravely fought but did not all end in 
success. 



352 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 



CHAPTER XLVI. 

Madison's administration — concluded — close of 

THE WAR. 

The Essex captured by the British — Operations in the west — The 
Niagara frontier — Fort Erie captured — The battle of Lundy's 
Lane — The British besiege Fort Erie — The siege raised — Op- 
erations in the north — Land and naval battle at Plattsburg — 
Prevost's invasion checked — The British burn Washington — 
They bombard Fort McHenry in vain — And retire — The 
Hartford convention — Anti-war spirit of New England — The 
Spaniards violate international law — Jackson takes revenge — 
He fortifies New Orleans — And defeats Packenham — Naval 
battles — Negotiations for peace — The treaty of Ghent — Pro- 
visions of the treaty — The public debt — The Bank of the Unit- 
ed States — Prosperity dawns again — Conclusion of the troubles 
with the Barbary States— Indiana admitted to the Union — 
Liberia settled — Monroe and Tompkins elected. 

The early part of 1814 saw no events of special im- 
portance, except the close of the Creek War, as nar- 
rated in the last chapter, and a naval engagement in 
the harbor of Valparaiso. The EsseXy commanded by 
Captain Porter, had been cruising for some months in 
the South Atlantic and the Pacific, capturing many 
British whale-ships. On the 28th cf March Porter 
was attacked in the neutral harbor of Valparaiso, in 
violation of the laws of nations, by two British ves- 
sels, the Fhahe and the Cherub. After a brave fight 
he was forced to surrender, and reported to the gov- 
ernment: ''We are unfortunate, but not disgraced." 

It was not until May that active operations com- 
menced. Then a small force left St. Louis and as- 
cended the Mississippi to Prairie du Ciiien for the 



MADISON'S ADMINISTRA TION. t^SZ 

purpose of quieting the savages. But on the 17th of 
July a superior force of Canadians and Indians com- 
pelled the surrender of the Americans. Another expe- 
dition, of 600 men, under Colonel Croghan, proceeded 
against Mackinaw and bravely assaulted that place on 
the 4th of August, but the Americans were repulsed 
and retired. 

Meanwhile on the Niagara frontier there had been 
greater activity. Generals Scott, Ripley, and Brown 
crocsed to Fort Erie on the 3d of July, and the small 
force of British surrendered that post without fight- 
ing. The Americans proceeded down the stream, 
and on the 5 th of the month were attacked by the 
British, under General Riall, near the Chippewa 
River. The Americans lost over 300 men; the British 
lo.t more than 500 and were driven back, retreating 
finally to Burlington Heights. 

On the 25th of July General Scott, who was watch- 
ing the enemy, commenced a battle at Lundy's Lane, 
close to Niagara Falls. He held his own till re-en- 
forcements arrived. The British were also re-en- 
forced, and as darkness drew on the battle waxed 
fiercer and fiercer. Brown called on Colonel Miller 
to take a battery which was the key to the British 
position. " I will try," replied Miller. His men 
charged, captured the battery, and maintained their 
ground against two desperate assaults of the enemy. 
Riall was captured. General Drummond, in com- 
mand of the enemy, was wounded, and the British 
were defeated. It was the fiercest battle of the war. 
The American forces engaged numbered about 3,000 
and the British /l,ooo; the former lost 743, the latter 
878. 

Scott and Brown being both wounded. General 
Ripley withdrew his forces to Fort Erie. General 
Gaines now crossed from Buffalo and assumed com- 
mand. General Drummond was re-enforced and 



354 HISTOR y OF THE UNITED STA TES. 

commenced a siege of Fort Erie in the first week of 
August. On the 15th of the month the British 
stormed the works, but were repulsed. They con- 
tinued the siege, however, with vigor. Gaines was 
wounded and Brown took command. On the 17th 
of September a fierce sortie was successfully made. 
This and the news that General Izard was advanc- 
ing from Plattsburg with re-enforcements led the 
British to abandon the siege and retire. The Ameri- 
cans destroyed Fort Erie early in November, crossed 
the river, and went into winter-quarters at Buffalo. 
This successful campaign was the last during the war 
on the Niagara frontier. 

At the close of 1813 we left Wilkinson's army at 
French Mills, near St. Regis. In February of 1814 
the American forces were taken to Plattsburg. Wil- 
kinson now attempted an invasion of Canada and 
advanced as far as La Colle, on the Sorrel. There he 
was defeated. He retired to Plattsburg, and was 
succeeded in command by General Izard. When 
Izard marched to the relief of Fort Erie he left 1,500 
men at Plattsburg, under General Macomb. The 
Americans also had a squadron of vessels on the lake 
commanded by Commodore Macdonough. 

Meanwhile England had successfully concluded her 
war with France, and many of her veterans were 
transferred to America. Sir George Prevost now at- 
tempted to invade the United States by way of Lake 
Champlain with a force of 14,000 men, supported by a 
fleet under Commodore Downie. Macomb withdrew 
his small force across the Saranac at Plattsburg, tore up 
the bridges, and for several days kept the British back. 
On the 11th of September the British made an attack 
by land and water. Downie's squadron bore down on 
Macdonough, and for more than two hours the victory 
was unsettled. But at the end of that time some of 
the British vessels struck their colors, and those that 



MA DISON ' S A DM IN IS TRA TION. 3 q ^ 

could sailed away. Both fleets had been terribly 
shattered. On shore, meanwhile, the Americans had 
stoutly resisted the attempts of the enemy to cross 
the Saranac. A few of the overwhelming forces of 
the British had at last succeeded in gaining a footing 
on the southern shore, but inspired by the victory on 
the lake, the Americans rallied and drove them back. 
The day was won. Prevost retired to Canada. He 
had lost 2,500 men in a costly expedition. The at- 
tempt to follow out the plan of Burgoyne's invasion 
had been disastrous, like that famous campaign of the 
Revolution. 

While these various events were occurring in the 
north the British had directed an expedition against 
the very capital of the country. Admiral Cochrane, 
in the latter part of the summer, arrived on the coast 
of Virginia with a fleet bearing more than 4,000 sol- 
diers under General Ross. The American squadron 
could not oppose them, and Commodore Barney, in 
command, was obliged to destroy his vessels and take 
to the shore. The British landed on the banks of the 
Patuxent River and began their march to Washing- 
ton, forty miles away. The only opposition to their 
advance was made at Bladensburg, on the 24th of 
August, but the smaller force of militia under Gen- 
eral Winder and marines under Barney were soon 
overcome, and the American commodore was capt- 
ured. The British the same day entered the city, 
which had been deserted by the President and other 
officials, and burned the President's mansion, the 
magnificent though unfinished capitol, and other 
buildings. Damage to the amount of $2,000,000 was 
said to have been done. A part of the British squad- 
ron sailed up the Potomac to Alexandria and there 
captured twenty-one vessels, besides large quantities 
of flour and tobacco. 

The British now sailed around to Baltimore, but 



356 ^/-S- TOR V OF THE UNI TED S 7 'A TES. 

there they met a decided check. The American mi- 
litia had gathered to the number of 10,000 or more, 
and on the 12th of September, when the British landed 
at North Point, a skirmish occurred in which Ross 
was killed. Pursuing their way, however, the British 
were soon halted by the main body of the Americans. 
In the meantime the British fleet had sailed up the 
Patapsco. All day long and far into the night of the 
13th they bombarded Fort McHenry. Then, finding 
that they produced little effect, the soldiers were em- 
barked and the fleet sailed away. It was during the 
night of this bombardment that " The Star-Spangled 
Banner" was composed by Francis S. Key, who was 
detained on one of the British vessels. 

In August Commodore Hardy bombarded the 
town of Stonington, Connecticut, but the assembling 
of the militia prevented a landing. The valley of the 
Penobscot, in Maine, was in the hands of the British, 
and they maintained an effective blockade on all the 
ports on the northern Atlantic coast. 

About the middle of December a convention of del- 
egates from the eastern states met at Hartford. 
Their deliberations were secret, and they were ac- 
cused of plotting treasonable measures against the 
active prosecution of the war. New England's com- 
mercial interests, which had been ruined, forced her 
people to oppose the commencement of war and 
prevented their active co-operation during its con- 
tinuance. Their discussions turned out to be less 
unpatriotic than had been suspected, but the Federal 
party had to bear a serious weight of reproach, and 
the members of the convention had little success in 
their subsequent political career. 

We are now close on the last campaign of the war. 
The Spanish authorities in Florida had violated in- 
ternational law by allovving the British to fit out an 
expedition at Pensacola, a neutral port, against Fort 



MA BISON ' S A DMINIS TRA TION. 



357 



Bowyer. This post, which commanded the entrance 
to Mobile Bay, was attacked on the 15th of Septem- 
ber, but the British were repulsed. General Jackson, 
who commanded the American army in this region, 
acted with his usual energy by marching to Pensa- 
cola, capturing the town, and driving the British away. 

Jackson then withdrew and soon proceeded to New 
Orleans, where he took vigorous measures to prepare 
for an expected attack. His precautions were not in 
vain. On the loth of December a large British fleet 
entered Lake Borgne, to the northeast of New Or- 
leans. It carried 12,000 soldiers, under the veteran 
General Packenham, besides many marines. The 
British soon captured, but not without loss, the 
American gun-boats which opposed them, and their 
way lay open to New Orleans. 

On the 22d of the month the British had reached 
the bank of the Mississippi nine miles below New 
Orleans. On the night of the 23d Jackson attacked 
them, but was obliged to retire, though the British 
loss was greater than his own. 

Jackson now took up a strong position behind a 
canal, four miles below the city which extended from 
the river to a swamp. Twice the British tried with- 
out success an assault and a heavy fire from the bat- 
teries they had brought into position. Jackson threw 
up earthworks behind the trench, that was full of 
water. He used bales of cotton and sand-bags to add 
to the strength of his works, and with about 6,000 
men awaited an attack. 

The British assault was ordered early on the morn- 
ing of the 8th of January, 1815. Across the open 
space they charged, exposed to a terrible fire from 
the cannon. As they drew nearer the sharpshooters 
of Tennessee and Kentucky, safe behind theintrench- 
ments, mowed them down. Packenham was killed, 
the second in command was mortally wounded. 



358 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Finally General Lambert recalled his scattered men. 
The British loss had been terrible. Two thousand of 
their army had been killed, wounded, or captured. 
The American loss was seven killed and six wound- 
ed — an insignificant number. A few days later the 
British withdrew to their ships. 

This was the close of the War of 1812, for news 
soon came that a treaty of peace had been signed be- 
fore the battle of New Orleans. The want of rapid 
means of communication, such as the telegraph now 
affords, cost many lives. And the war still continued 
for a while on the ocean. In February the frigate 
Constitution captured off the coast of Portugal two 
British sloops of war, the Cyane and the Alert. On 
the 23d of March the Hornet^ Captain Biddle, capt- 
ured the British brig Penguin off Brazil. 

Negotiations for peace had commenced in the sum- 
mer of 1814, commissioners from the United States 
and Great Britain having been sent to Ghent, in Bel- 
gium. Those from this country were John Quincy 
Adams, James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Jonathan Rus- 
sell, and Albert Gallatin. It was the 24th of Decem- 
ber, however, before a treaty was signed. In Febru- 
ary the news reached the United States, and on the 
i8th of February, 1815, the Senate ratified the treaty 
and the President proclaimed peace. 

The treaty amounted to little more than an agree- 
ment for the cessation of hostilities. The special 
grievances which led the United States to begin war 
were not redressed, nor the debated questions con- 
cerning the impressment of seamen and the rights of 
neutral nations settled publicly. But the British com- 
missioners probably gave assurances to our represent- 
atives that England would cease from her unwarrant- 
able interferences, and in truth she did so. This was 
the practical result of the war, and moreover the many 
victories of American vessels had humbled the pride 



MA DISON' S A D MINIS TEA TION. 359 

of Great Britain and given an honorable reputation 
to the stars and stripes in naval warfare. 

However little the treaty seemed to settle, the peo- 
ple of both nations were rejoiced at the return of 
peace. Hundreds of vessels and thousands of lives 
had been lost by the United States, and at the close 
of the war the public debt was $100,000,000. Besides 
the destruction of commerce, the country was in a 
deplorable financial condition. The Bank of the 
United States had ceased to exist in 1811 by the 
limitation of its charter, and during the war the other 
banks throughout the country were forced to suspend 
specie payment, and the currency fell in value. But 
in 1816 the Bank of the United States, located at Phil- 
adelphia, with branches in other cities, was rechar- 
tered for twenty years, a heavy duty was levied on 
imported merchandise, and credit was restored. At 
the close of the war ship-building had commenced 
once more, factories were reopened, commerce was 
renewed. It was the beginning of a prosperous peri- 
od for the nation. 

During the war Algiers had repeated her former 
outrages on American vessels. When peace left our 
government free from graver difficulties, Commodore 
Decatur was sent with nine vessels to right our 
wrongs. On the 17th of June Decatur captured an 
Algerine frigate near Gibraltar, after a short but 
sharp engagement. Two days later he captured an- 
other vessel, and when, soon after, he reached Algiers, 
the dey was forced to sign a treaty releasing his 
American captives and renouncing all claim to future 
tribute from this country. Decatur then proceeded 
to Tunis and Tripoli and obliged them to pay for 
their depredations and to give pledges for their good 
behavior in the future. Thus were brought to an end 
the troubles with the Barbary States, which had occa- 
sioned no little trouble, had cost many vessels and 



360 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

American seamen, and had forced the payment of a 
shameful tribute. 

In December, 1819, Indiana, the nineteenth state, 
was admitted into the Union. About this period the 
Colonization Society of the United States was formed, 
for the purpose of founding in Africa a colony of free 
negroes. Colored emigrants were soon sent to the 
western coast of Africa, and later on Liberia became 
an independent republic. 

The election that occurred in the fall of 1816 re- 
sulted in the overwhelming defeat of the Federal can- 
didate, Rufus King, and the victory of the Republican 
candidates, James Monroe, of Virginia, and Daniel D. 
Tompkins, of New York. 



MONROE'S ADMINISTRA TION, 



361 



CHAPTER XLVII. 

Monroe's administration — 181 7-1825. 

Sketch of Monroe — His Cabinet — The "era of good feeling" — 
Indian reservations — Freebooters in the Gulf of Mexico — 
Jackson quiets the Seminoles — He captures St. Mark's and 
executes two Englishmen — England and Spain complain but 
without eftect — The United States acquires Florida — Missis- 
sippi, Illinois, and Alabama admitted to the Union — The first 
transatlantic steamer — The Missouri Compromise — Maine and 
Missouri become states — Re-election of Monroe and Tomp- 
kins — Piracy in the West Indies suppressed — The Monroe 
Doctrine — Lafayette's visit to America — Presidential candi- 
dates — John Quincy Adams and Calhoun elected. 

James Monroe was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 
181 7. He took the Presidential chair near the close 
of his fifty-ninth year, having been born in Virginia 
on April 28, 1758. He had taken a prominent place 
in the councils of the nation. He had been the gov- 
ernor of his state, a member of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, a Senator, an embassador abroad, and Sec- 
retary of State under Madison. It was he who, in 
conjunction with Livingston, negotiated the purchase 
of Louisiana. 

Monroe chose for his advisers John Quincy Adams 
as Secretary of State; William H. Crawford as Secre- 
tary of the Treasury; John C. Calhoun as Secretary of 
War, and William Wirt as Attorney-General. Soon 
after his inauguration, following Washington's exam- 
ple, he made a tour of the northern states. Party 
animosities were in large measure forgotten, and the 
" era of good feeling " began with reviving commerce 
and general prosperity. 



362 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

In September of 1817 a treaty was concluded with 
the Indians north of the Ohio River, by which their 
claims to the country were purchased for certain sums 
in cash, besides promised annuities. The plan was 
also adopted of locating the tribes apart from each 
other in reservations, with the hope that their savage 
instincts would be lost amid the surrounding civiliza- 
tion. This system of reservations, though it con- 
tinues at the present day in the west, has not accom- 
plished all that was desired. The Indians do not 
readily adopt civilized habits and often break out into 
bloodshed and massacre. 

The administration was soon called on to suppress 
two bands of freebooters who carried on a trade in 
slaves and privateering operations from islands which 
they occupied off the coasts of Florida and Texas. 
Active measures were taken and the adventurers were 
dispersed. 

Before the close of 1817 the Seminole Indians in the 
extreme south showed signs of hostility, and General 
Gaines was sent against them. His forces being in- 
sufficient to effect the purpose, General Jackson was 
ordered to take the matter in hand. With 1,000 rifle- 
men from Tennessee he entered the Indian country 
and laid it waste. The Indians made little opposition 
to the man whose powers had gained him among 
them the name of Big Knife. 

Jackson, thinking that the Spaniards had incited the 
Indians to their depredations, now proceeded to St. 
Mark's, in Florida, which place he captured. He 
seized two Englishmen, Arbuthnot and Ambrister, 
who were tried by court-martial on a charge of incit- 
ing the Indians, found guilty, and executed. Jack- 
son then proceeded to Pensacola, of which place he 
took possession, and captured Fort Barrancas, on the 
shore of the bay, after a slight resistance. 

The execution of two British subjects raised such a 



MONR OE'S A DMINIS TRA TIOX. t^^t^ 

Storm of indignation in England that another war was 
threatened. But the English ministry admitted the 
justice of the act, and the danger was avoided. Spain 
also complained of Jackson's proceeding, and his ene- 
mies in the United States sharply assailed him. But 
the President and Congress approved his deeds. 




JAMES MOXROE. 



Spain now saw naturally enough that the maintai- 
nance of a Spanish government in Florida would be a 
burden, and the cession of the territory was proposed. 
Commissioners met at Washington, and a treaty was 
concluded on the 19th of February, 1819, by which the 
United States received Florida, and in payment ag^reed 



364 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

to assume debts of the Spanish government to Ameri- 
can citizens not exceeding $5,000,000. The treaty 
also fixed the eastern boundary of Mexico at the Sa- 
bine River. 

In December, 1817, the state of Mississippi was ad- 
mitted to the Union. A year later Illinois and Ala- 
bama were added, and about the same time Arkansas 
Territory was formed out of the southern portion of 
the Territory of Missouri. 

In 1819 the first steamboat crossed the Atlantic. 
This pioneer of transatlantic steam navigation was 
named the Savannah. 

Thefamous " Missouri Compromiseof i82o"marked 
the first crisis in the slavery question. The invention 
of the cotton-gin by Eli Whitney, in 1793, had in- 
creased the cultivation of cotton in the south, where, 
for this purpose and the raising of rice and tobacco, 
slave-labor was deemed a necessity. In the north, 
meanwhile, there had been growing a feeling opposed 
to slavery. When Missouri applied for admission as 
a slave state, the opponents of the institution desired 
to deny the request. But the upholders of slavery 
threatened to exclude Maine, which was also desirous 
of becoming a state. The controversy was carried on 
with great bitterness, and threats of secession were 
even heard. But, largely by the efforts of Henry 
Clay, a compromise was agreed on in 1820, and finally 
carried into effect in February, 1821, which provided 
for the admission of Missouri as a slave state, but for- 
bade slavery in the territory north of thirty-six degrees 
and thirty minutes north latitude, the southern bound- 
ary of Missouri. Thus the question was settled for 
the time. Maine became a state on the 15th of March, 
1820, and Missouri on the 21st of August, 1821. 

While the Missouri question was still agitating the 
country, Monroe and Tompkins were re-elected by 
an almost unanimous vote. The old Federal party 



MONROE'S ADMINISTRA TION. 365 

had by this time well-nigh disappeared. Two years 
later our government undertook the suppression of 
piracy in the West Indies, the work being successful- 
ly completed in the year 1823. 

During the first quarter of this century the coun- 
tries of Central and South America, which had been 
under the yoke of Spain since the days of Cortes and 
Pizarro, had rebelled and established governments of 
their own. The United States naturally sympathized 
with such movements, and in 1822 recognized their 
independence. The next 3^ear Monroe, in his annual 
message to Congress, asserted that the American con- 
tinents were " henceforth not to be considered as 
subjects for future colonization by any European 
power." This is the substance of what is known as 
the Monroe Doctrine, and has always received the 
hearty indorsement of the American people. 

The great event which closed Monroe's adminis- 
tration was the visit of Lafayette to the United 
States. The friend of Washington, the nobleman 
who sympathized with the struggle for freedom and 
lent his best efforts to secure its success, returned in 
his old age to the land of his youthful enthusiasm. 
Everything was changed. A mighty nation had 
taken the place of the poor and feeble colonies. But 
Lafayette's memory was dear to the new generation. 
He traveled through the country in triumph, visited 
the tomb of Washington, and departed, after a visit 
of more than a year, in the frigate Brandywine — 
named in honor of the first battle in which the French- 
man had fought side by side with the colonists of 
America. 

The national election in the fall of 1824 occasioned 
much excitement. Four candidates were put forward 
for the office of President, representing different sec- 
tions of the country: they were John Quincy Adams 
for the east, William H. Crawford for the south, 



2^66 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Henry Clay and Andrew Jackson for the west. As 
no one of the candidates received a majority of votes 
in the electoral college, the choice devolved on the 
House of Representatives for the second time in our 
history. The result was the election of John Quincy 
Adams, of Massachusetts. John C. Calho'un, of 
South Carolina, had been chosen by the electoral col- 
lege for the office of Vice-President. 



JOHN Q UINC Y A DA MS' A D MINIS TEA TION. 367 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION 1825-1829. 

Sketch of Adams — A peaceful period — Political parties in a trans- 
formation stage — Trouble with the Creek Indians — The Erie 
Canal opened — Deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jeffer- 
son — Morgan and the anti-Masonic party — The tariff ques- 
tion — Jackson elected President — Calhoun re-elected Vice- 
President. 

John Quincy Adams, son of the second President 
of the Republic, was born in Massachusetts July 11, 
1767. He thus assumed office in his fifty-eighth year. 
He was a man of brilliant scholarship. As our min- 
ister in various parts of Europe he had exhibited 
great talent in conducting matters of diplomacy, and 
he had h&tn Secretary of State under Monroe. He 
had likewise been a Senator from his native state. 
On the 4th of March, 1825, one of the most talented 
statesmen who ever occupied the Presidential chair 
was inaugurated. 

The administration of Adams was marked by few 
notable events. It was a period of peace, and the 
nation was growing silently in population, wealth, 
and power. The men who had aided in fighting the 
battles of freedom and in forming the government of 
the Union were no longer the leaders in its forward 
movement. Many of them were dead, and all the 
survivors were gray with years. Half a century had 
passed since the opening of the Revolution. 

The party lines also which had divided the nation 
in its early years were practically obliterated. Old 



368 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

animosities were forgotten, and soon new parties were 
to spring into being on far different issues from those 
of the earlier ones, but as yet the question of support- 
ing or opposing the President was virtually the only 
issue. In the Senate the friends of Adams were out- 
numbered by his opponents, and in the House the 
majority of his supporters lasted but for one session 
of Congress. 

During the first year of this administration a diffi- 
culty arose and was settled with the authorities of 
Georgia. When that state had ceded her claims to 
Mississippi Territory, the national government had 
agreed to purchase and give to her the lands held by 
the Creek Indians within her limits. This promise 
had never been fulfilled, and the governor of Georgia 
prepared to remove the Indians and distribute their 
lands. The controversy became serious, but was 
finally settled amicably through a treaty made by 
the President with the Creeks in March, 1826, by 
which they ceded their lands and agreed to remove 
beyond the Mississippi. 

In October, 1825, the Erie Canal was formally 
opened. It was the most extensive. public improve- 
ment which had as yet been undertaken in the United 
States; but it was the state of New York alone that 
commenced and carried through the work. It was no 
slight labor to complete a canal 363 miles in length. 
It had taken eight years and $7,600,000 for its first 
cost, and all honor is due to the foresight, public 
spirit, and energy of De Witt Clinton and others for 
their untiring devotion to the enterprise. The canal, 
extending from Buffalo to Albany, and thus connect- 
ing the great lakes by way of the Hudson with the 
Atlantic Ocean, has been no small factor in making 
New York the Empire State. 

It was a remarkable coincidence that on the fif- 
tieth anniversary of independence, July 4, 1826, John 



JOHN Q UINC Y ADA A/S' A DM IN IS TRA TION. 369 

Adams and Thomas Jefferson passed together from 
among the living. Half a century to a day before 
their death both had signed their names to the Dec- 
laration of Independence which the pen of one of 
them had written, and since that memorable day both 
had faithfully served the Union they helped to form, 




JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 

and both had been honored with the highest office the 
people could bestow. 

In 1826 an event occurred in New York which 
called a new political party into life for a time. 
William Morgan, an inhabitant of the western part of 
New York, announced that he would expose the se- 



370 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

crets of the Freemasons, to which society be belonged. 
He suddenly disappeared, and was never seen or heard 
of again. The enemies of the Masonic order asserted 
that he had been murdered by members of the soci- 
ety, and an anti-Masonic party grew out of the ex- 
citement. The party was stronger in New York than 
elsewhere, but it spread to some extent over the coun- 
try, and in 1832 it nominated William Wirt for Presi- 
dent. After his defeat it soon disappeared. 

The question of the tariff, or duties on imported 
goods, was much discussed during this administra- 
tion, and it has never ceased to vex the nation. One 
set of statesmen urge that a tariff should be levied 
" for revenue only " — in other words, that duties 
should be assessed merely to provide the money for 
the expenses of conducting the government. Others 
uphold the " American System," as it has been called, 
of assessing sufficient duties on imported articles to 
make them cost equal to or greater than the cost of 
similar goods produced in this country. The plan of 
protection naturally meets with more favor in quar- 
ters such as New England, where manufacturing in- 
dustries predominate, while the south and west, being 
more largely agricultural in their interests, derive less 
benefit from such a policy and therefore oppose it. 
Congress at this time inclined to the protection view, 
and in 1828 increased duties were provided forvarious 
articles. 

An exciting election occurred in the fall of 1824. 
Adams was nominated for a second term and was 
supported by his Secretary of State, Henry Clay. His 
opponent was Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee, who 
was elected by a large majority. John C. Calhoun 
was continued in the office of Vice-President. 



J A CKSON ' S A D MINIS TEA TION. 3 7 1 



CHAPTER XLIX. 

Jackson's administration — 1829-1837. 

Sketch of Jackson — His firm character — Removals from office — 
Use of the veto power — The President's opposition to the 
United States Bank — The national charter of the bank ex- 
pires — Jackson removes the government funds — And distrib- 
utes them among state banks — The tariff question — South 
Carolina threatens resistance — Jackson's prompt measures 
preserve peace — The Black Hawk War — Trouble with the 
Cherokees — Osceola takes up arms for the Seminoles — Dade's 
massacre — The surprise at Fort King — Various indecisive 
battles — "Jackson re-elected — Van Buren chosen Vice-Presi- 
dent — Threatening relations with France terminate peaceful- 
ly — Deaths of Monroe and Madison — Great fire in New York — 
Arkansas and Michigan become states — New political par- 
ties — Van Buren and Johnson elected. 

Andrew Jackson was born in North Carolina, on the 
15th of March, 1767. His inauguration on the 4th of 
March, 1829, found him therefore nearly sixty-two 
years old, the greatest age at which any one had yet 
become President. While still a boy we found him 
fighting under Sumter at Hanging Rock, and during 
the Revolution he was captured and imprisoned by 
the British. After thatstruggle was ended he studied 
law and removed to Tennessee. He was a member of 
Congress both in the House and in the Senate, but 
his talents were better fitted for military action, and 
his services in the War of 1812 were brilliant. His 
iron will that brooked no opposition showed itself in 
his invasion of Florida and the execution of the two 
Englishmen in 181 8. He was of strong character, 
determined, unpolished, but thoroughly honest and 



372 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

incorruptible. He invariably aimed to pursue what 
he considered the best course, and no obstacle swerved 
him from his purpose. These characteristics had 
gained for him the sobriquet of '^ Old Hickory," and 
the people either loved him warmly or opposed him 
bitterly. 

Jackson gave his own character to the administra- 
tion. He instructed our minister to England to "ask 
nothing but what is right; submit to nothing wrong." 
He removed more public officials in one month than 
his predecessors had done in forty years, and he filled 
their places with his political friends, believing that 
the affairs of the government would best be carried 
on in this way. He also used the veto power more 
freely than any President had so far attempted. 

Jackson soon showed a strong opposition to the 
United States Bank, which institution he believed to 
be unconstitutional, and at the same time to be worse 
than useless. The second charter was to expire in 
1836, and in his first annual message the President 
advised that the charter should not be renewed. But 
Congress held different opinions, and in 1832 passed 
a bill for prolonging the existence of the bank. Jack- 
son vetoed the bill, and the necessary majority of 
two-thirds could not be procured in Congress to pass 
it over his veto. The bank therefore ceased to ex- 
ist in 1836 as a national institution, though the state 
of Pennsylvania afterward rechartered it. 

The feeling of insecurity in financial circles which 
arose in prospect of the discontinuance of the United 
States Bank was further increased in 1833. Jackson 
ordered the removal from the bank of the government 
funds, amounting to nearly $10,000,000. There was a 
fierce discussion in Congress over this act, and the Sen- 
ate actuall}^ passed a vote of censure on the President, 
which stood for four years on its records till it was 
expunged by a vote. But the House of Representa- 



J A CKSON ' S A DM IN IS TRA TION, 373 

tives supported him, and unmoved by the public 
clamor and charges of illegal and arbitrary action, 
Jackson pursued his plan. In the course of a few 
months the funds were removed and distributed on 
deposit among the state banks. As a result of the 
unsettled nature of the financial question, the busi- 




ANDREW JACKSON. 



ness of the country was much depressed in 1833-34. 
But the state banks loaned freely the government 
funds which had been deposited with them, and pros- 
perity came once more for a time. 

The tariff question assumed threatening propor- 
tions in 1S32. In the spring of that year a bill was 



374 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

passed in Congress increasing the duties on imported 
merchandise. South Carolina at once took decided 
steps in opposition to this measure. A state conven- 
tion was called which declared the act unconstitu- 
tional and therefore null and void. It advised that 
the collection of duties at the port of Charleston 
should be resisted by arms if necessary. The state 
legislature indorsed the action of the convention, 
and a conflict of force seemed probable. 

Jackson, however, acting with his natural prompti- 
tude and energy, issued a proclamation in which 
he denied the right of any state to nullify an act of 
Congress. He followed this up by sending a man-of- 
war to Charleston and ordering General Scott there 
with troops. These active measures were sufficient 
to prevent the threatened danger. In the spring of 1833 
the excitement was finally quieted by a bill proposed 
and carried through by Henry Clay, which provided 
for a gradual reduction of the duties during the next 
ten years. 

Serious troubles with the Indians in the west and 
south occurred during this administration. The sav- 
ages refused to leave the lands which they had ceded 
many years before in Illinois, and the Sacs, Foxes, and 
Winnebagoes, led by Black Hawk, took up arms. In 
1832 General Atkinson advanced against the Indians 
with regulars and the Illinois militia, and after gain- 
ing several victories over them, captured Black Hawk. 
The chieftain was taken to Washington and other 
cities in the east, and he saw the impossibility of con- 
tending successfully with a people so numerous and 
powerful. 

Difficulties also arose, as in the previous adminis- 
tration, with the Indians of Georgia and from much 
the same cause. The Cherokees still occupied lands 
which were claimed by Georgia, and the legislature 
passed an act encroaching^ on their rights. The Su- 



J A CK^QN S A DM IN IS. TKA TION. 3 7 r 

preme Court of thfj United States declared the act 
unconstitutional. The Indians appealed to the Presi- 
dent for protection, but he refused to interfere. The 
Indian Territory was set apart for their occupation 
in 1834, and General Scott was finally sent to remove 
them by force if necessary. The peaceful Cherokees 
still hesitated to leave their homes, but several years 
later Scott persuaded them to go quietlv, and the diffi- 
culty was finally settled by 1838. 

A still graver difficulty occurred witn the Seminoles 
of Florida, which was not settled without bloodshed. 
This also arose from an attempt to remove the Indi- 
ans beyond the Mississippi. Hostilities began in 1835. 
Osceola, the chief of the Seminoles, together with Mi- 
canopy, another sachem, refused to recognize a treaty 
previously made by some of the chiefs agreeing to a 
removal. General Thompson was sent to Florida by 
the government, and he arrested Osceola and put him 
in irons. The Indian then assented to the treaty and 
was released, but his haughty spirit had been wound- 
ed and he at once commenced a struggle for revenge. 
His cunning, activity, and bravery prolonged the con- 
flict for several years. 

General Clinch was stationed at this time at Fort 
Drane. Major Dade was dispatched to his relief from 
Fort Brooke, at the head of Tampa Bay. On the 28th 
of December, 1835, he fell into an ambush with over a 
hundred men, and not more than four escaped massa- 
cre. On the same day Osceola, with a small band of 
Indians, surprised General Thompson and afew friends 
who were dining in a store-house just outside the 
walls of Fort King. Thompson was riddled with bul- 
lets and several of his friends were killed. Osceola 
scalped his victims and escaped with his wa'-'-iors be- 
fore the massacre was known at the fort. 

On the last day of the year General Clincn fought 
a battle with the Indians on the Withlacoochie, and 



376 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

on the 29th of February, 1836, General Gaines fought 
at the same place. In both engagements the Indians 
were repulsed, but not without loss to the troops. 
Some Creeks who still remained in the east took up 
arms and committed many depredations in Georgia 
and Alabama. General Scott, who was now in com- 
mand of the United States troops, prosecuted the war 
with vigor, and the Creeks were subdued and removed 
beyond the Mississippi. In October, 1836, Governor 
Call, of Florida, marched against the Seminoles with 
2,000 men, and the next month fought a fierce battle 
with about 500 Indians in Wahoo Swamp, not far 
from the scene of Dade's massacre. Neither side 
could claim a decisive victory, but the Indians with- 
drew into the Everglades. Another battle, also inde- 
cisive, was fought later on at nearly the same spot, 
but the war extended into the next administration. 

In the fall of 1832 Jackson had been' re-elected. 
Calhoun, who had resigned before the expiration of 
his term of office to enter the Senate as an opponent 
of the President, was replaced in the Vice-Presidency 
by Martin Van Buren. 

In 1834 trouble arose with France which terminated 
favorably for the United States through Jackson's 
firm policy. The French government had agreed to 
pay $5,000,000 to satisfy the claims of the United 
States for injuries done to its commerce during the 
time of Napoleon. Payment was delayed till the 
President assumed a hostile tone and ordered the 
American minister to leave France. This vigorous 
policy caused France to speedily fulfill her promise, 
and Portugal was in a similar way made to pay our 
claims. 

During Jackson's term of office two ex-Presidents 
died — Monroe in 1831 and Madison in 1836. On the 
i6th of December, 1835, a fire broke out in New York 
City, by which 529 buildings and property to the 



J A CKSON' S A DM IN IS TRA TION. 377 

amount of about $20,000,000 were destroyed. In June, 
1836, Arkansas became a state, and in January, 1837, 
Michigan was admitted to the Union. In 1830 the 
first locomotive was built in the United States, and the 
Baltimore and Ohio, the first passenger railroad, was 
opened for fifteen miles in the same year. 

The old political parties of the nation, which had 
not for some time previously been strongly marked, 
during Jackson's administration crystallized into per- 
manent forms. The Whig party, under the able lead- 
ership of Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, was the 




FIRST RAILROAD TRAIN IN THE UNITED STATES, 

descendant of the old Federalists. The anti-Federal, 
known also as the Republican party of the early days 
of the Union, had come to be called the Democratic 
party as early as Jefferson's time. The candidate of 
the Democrats at the national election in the fall of 
1836 was Martin Van Buren, of New York, who, it was 
understood, would continue Jackson's policy. He was 
elected by a large majority over the Whig candidate, 
General Harrison. No one received a majority of 
votes in the electoral college for the office of Vice- 
President, and the Senate accordingly chose Colonel 
Richard M. Johnson, also a Democrat, of Kentucky, 
to fill that otiice. 



378 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER L. 

VAN buren's administration — 1837-1841. 

Sketch of Van Buren — Speculation — The Specie Circular — Distri- 
bution of the national surplus — The panic of 1837 — Many 
banks suspend specie payment — An extraordinary session of 
Congress called — Treasury-notes authorized — The Independ- 
ent Treasury Bill — Continuance of the Seminole War — Osce- 
ola captured — His death — The Seminoles removed to the 
west — Insurrection in Canada — New Yorkers assist the insur- 
rectionists — General Scott quiets the disturbance — The sixth 
census — An exciting Presidential campaign — Harrison and 
Tyler elected. 

Martin Van Buren was of Dutch descent. Born at 
Kinderhook, New York, in December, 1782, he was in 
his fifty-fifth year at the time of his inauguration, on 
March 4, 1837. He had for many years been the leader 
of the Democratic party in his native state and had 
held the office of governor. He had also been a 
United States Senator, Secretary of State during part 
of Jackson's first term, and Vice-President during his 
second term. 

In 1837, the first year of Van Buren's adminis- 
tration, occurred a disastrous panic. The distribu- 
tion of the national funds in the United States Bank 
made under Jackson's orders to various state banks 
led to a large increase in thejr issues of paper 
money, and their free loans of money increased the 
speculative spirit among the people. Real estate was 
the particular subject c f their mania, and Jackson, 
previous to the expiration of his term of ofhce, had 
instructed the land-agents to receive only specie in 



FA AT BU REN'S ADMINISTRA TION, 



379 



payment for the public lands. By this famous Specie 
Circular the government was protected against loss 
from the depreciation of the currency, but it hastened 
the inevitable result. The banks were suddenly called 
on for large quantities of specie, and many of them 
were forced to suspend payment. Moreover, Congress 




MARTIN VAN EUREN. 



had authorized the distribution of a surplus of nearly 
$40,000,000 which then existed in the treasury among 
the various states. The banks of deposit, after the 
ist of January, 1837, were called on for the national 
funds in their possession, and many of these favored 
banks were also broken. 



380 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The result was wide-spread financial ruin. During 
the months of March and April, 1837, the failures in 
New York City alone amounted to more than $100,- 
000,000. Early in May a committee of bankers and 
merchants from that city waited on the President and 
requested that he rescind the Specie Circular and call 
a special session of Congress to adopt some plan of 
relief. The President refused their petitions, and im- 
mediately the banks of New York, Boston, Philadel- 
phia, and other cities suspended specie payment. 
Several of the states also were unable to pay their 
debts, and even the national government was embar- 
rassed. 

Van Buren was now obliged to convene Congress 
in an extraordinary session, which commenced in the 
early part of September, 1837. But little was accom- 
plished except the passage of a bill authorizing the 
issue of treasury-notes not to exceed $10,000,000. 
Van Buren suggested the establishment of a sub- 
treasury system, and the Senate passed the Inde- 
pendent Treasury Bill. It failed to pass in the 
House, however, and did not become a law till 1840. 
But in the meantime the business of the country re- 
vived in large measure, and in 1838 most of the banks 
resumed specie payment, though the effects of the panic 
were long felt. 

The Seminole War continued in the south,, Gen- 
eral Jessup had succeeded Scott in comm.and of the 
United States forces. A treaty was signed by several 
chiefs two days after Van Buren's inauguration whicn 
promised peace, but Osceola and others still remained 
in arms. In October Osceola and a band of warriors 
came to Jessup's camp under a flag of truce. They 
were imprisoned and their brave leader was sent to 
Fort Moultrie, where he died of a fever the next year. 
On Christmas day, 1837, Colonel Zachary Taylor 
fought a severe battle at Lake Okeechobee with those 



VAN B UK EN ' S A DM IN IS TRA TION. 3 S i 

Indi jfls who still held out. He lost over 100 men, 
but defeated the Indians, and for over a year pursued 
them through the swamps. In May, 1839, another 
treaty was signed, but it was not till 1842 that peace 
was finally secured by General Worth. Then the 
Indians were sent to the west, and the seven-years' 
struggle ended. It had cost many lives and added a 
large sum to the national debt. 

An insurrection that occurred in Canada in 1837 
threatened trouble between the United States and 
Great Britain. The people of the United States, and 
especially those in the north, sympathized with the 
revolt, and many of them joined the forces of the in- 
surgents. A party of 700 men from New York forti- 
fied Navy Island, in the Niagara River, and held that 
place against the Canadian Royalists. The latter, 
however, succeeded in firing the Caroline, a supply- 
steamer of the New Yorkers, and she was sent burn- 
ing over Niagara Falls. The President issued a 
proclamation of neutrality, and dispatched a force 
under General Scott, who quieted the disturbance. 
For several years, however, the relations between our 
government and that of Great Britain were strained. 

The census of 1840 showed that the population of 
the country had increased to over 17,000,000. During 
the last ten years the growth of the United States 
had been westward, and the center of population had 
moved fifty-five miles in that direction, and was now 
at Clarksburg, West Virginia. 

The national election that was to determine the 
next President occurred in the fall of 1840. It was 
one of tl?'^ most bitter campaigns which our country 
has ever been through. Van Buren was renominated 
by the Democracy, and their choice for Vice-Presi- 
dent was divided between Richard M. Johnson and 
James K. Polk. The Whigs put in the field General 
William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, and John Tyler, 



382 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

of Virginia. A Democratic journal cast a sneer at 
Harrison that was turned to good account by the 
Whigs. It was said that Harri'son would sit down 
content for life in a log-cabin if he had a pension of a 
few hundred dollars and a barrel of hard cider. The 
west grew enthusiastic over their log-cabin candi- 
date. Log cabins became the symbols of victory, 
and hard cider was more than a symbol. In remem- 
brance of Harrison's successful battle in the War of 
181 2, the campaign-cry of the Whigs was *' Tippeca- 
noe and Tyler too," The log-cabin-and-hard-cider 
campaign resulted in a sweeping victory for the 
Whigs. Harrison received 234 electoral votes, and 
Tyler was also elected. Van Buren had but 60 
votes in the electoral college, and the Democratic 
party lost the control of the government which it had 
held for many years. Van Buren's administration 
had been held responsible for all the financial de- 
pression which marked its commencement, but which 
was in reality a legacy from Jackson's conduct of the 
government. 



HARRISON ' S A D MINIS TRA TION. ^t'^T^ 



CHAPTER LI. 

ADMINISTRATIONS OF HARRISON AND TYLER 

1841-1845. 

Sketch of Harrison — His death — Tyler becomes President — Spe- 
cial session of Congress — Tyler vetoes bills for renewing the 
charter of the United States Bank — The Cabinet officers, ex- 
cept Webster, resign — The Ashburton Treaty with England — 
The "Dorr Rebellion" in Rhode Island — Land troubles in 
New York — The Mormons — Utah Territory settled — Texas 
secures independence from Mexico — Asks admittance to the 
Union — Northern and southern views of the question — Polk 
and Dallas elected — A bill passed and signed for the annexa- 
tion of Texas — Florida admitted to the Union — Morse and 
the telegraph. 

William Henry Harrison was born in Virginia in 
February, 1773. He was thus somewhat over fifty-eight 
years of age on assuming the Presidential office on the 
4th of March, 1841. Hehad entered the army in 1791, 
had been governor of Indiana Territory, and active in 
the War of 1812. At the close of that struggle he had 
retired to his home in Ohio, and afterward served as a 
Senator of the United States. 

Harrison selected an able Cabinet, prominent in 
which was the Secretary of State, Daniel Webster. 
He also called an extraordinary session of Congress 
to legislate on subjects of finance. But before Con- 
gress could convene the President fell sick and, after 
a short illness, died on the 4th of April. It was the 
first time in our history that such an event had oc- 
curred. 

In accordance with the Constitution, John Tyler took 



384 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the oath of office on the 6th of April and became Presi- 
dent. He was born in Virginia in 1790, and was 
called to the highest position in the nation at the age 
of fifty-one. He retained all the Cabinet as appointed 
by Harrison. 

The special session of Congress commenced in May 




WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 



and lasted till September. The Sub-Treasury Bill 
was repealed, and a general bankrupt law was passed 
which relieved many honorable men whom financial 
disaster had overtaken. The Whigs then succeeded 
in passing a bill for renewing the charter of the United 
States Bank. Tyler had been the candidate of this 



T YLER' S A DM IN IS TKA TIOiV. 385 

party, but held Jackson's opinion in regard to tlie 
bank. He therefore vetoed the biil. Another bill 
with the same purpose in view, thougli modified in 
form, was passed by both houses, but met with a like 
fate at the President's hands. A two-thirds maiority 
could not be obtained in Congress to pass the bill over 



jjS^f^ 




JOHN TYLER. 

his veto, and the Whigs assailed the President bitter- 
ly. Every member of his Cabinet, except the Secre- 
tary of State, resigned. 

Daniel Webster remained at his post for the pur- 
pose of concluding certain delicate negotiations which 
were pending with Great Britain. The discussion 



386 JIISrORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

concerned the northern boundaries of the United 
States, especially in the northeast, which had been a 
matter of dispute ever since the treaty of 1783. Dif- 
ficulties arising from this question had at times even 
jeopardized our peaceful relations with England. In 
1842 the latter nation sent Lord Ashburton to this 
country, and he negotiated a treaty with Daniel Web- 
ster. It fixed definitely the northeastern boundary of 
the United States as it now stands, and the northern 
limits of our country were traced as far west as the 
Rocky Mountains. The boundary beyond that pomt 
was not permanently settled till four years later. The 
Treaty of Washington, generally called the Ashbur- 
ton Treaty, was signed on the 9th of August, 1842, 
ratified by the Senate on the 20th of the same month, 
and proclaimed by the President on the loth of No- 
vember. 

In the same year serious trouble began in Rhode 
Island. That state was still ruled under the charter 
granted by Charles II. in 1663, by which the right of 
suffrage depended on a property qualification. A 
convention was called and a new constitution framed, 
which, it was claimed, v/as ratified by the people. 
Under this constitution the "Suffrage party" chose 
Thomas W. Dorr as governor. In May, 1842, Dorr 
attempted to assume the government, but was op- 
posed by the " Law and Order party," led by Governor 
King. Both sides took up arms and the Dorr party 
were twice dispersed, without bloodshed, partly by 
the aid of national troops. Another convention was 
called by the legislature, which proposed a constitu- 
tion that was ratified by the people and went into ef- 
fect in May, 1843. Dorr was arrested and convicted 
on a charge of treason. He was sentenced to im- 
prisonment for life, but was afterward pardoned and 
restored to full citizenship. This disturbance is known 
as the "Dorr Rebellion." 



TYLER'S ADMINISTKATION. 387 

. Trouble also arose during Tyler's administration in 
New York. It grew out of the refusal of the farmers 
in certain counties to continue the payment of a nom- 
inal rent to the descendants of the old patroons. The 
farmers who continued the payments were tarred and 
feathered, and armed resistance was offered to the 
public officers. It was some years before quiet was 
completely restored. The State Constitution of 1846 
abolished all feudal tenures. 

The year 1842 marked the completion, and the fol- 
lowing vear saw the dedication of Bunker Hill Mon- 
ument, in Charlestown, Massachusetts. The corner- 
stone had been laid on the fiftieth anniversary of the 
battle, June 17, 1825, by Lafayette. 

Several years before this time the Mormon religion 
had been founded by Joseph Smith, who pretended to 
have discovered a new divine revelation written on 
golden plates, which he asserted he had unearthed in 
New York State. One of the tenets of the " Church 
of Latter Day Saints " teaches the doctrine of polyg- 
amy. Sn^ith gathered a company of followers and 
went to Ohio. Driven thence, they proceeded to Mis- 
souri, and next to Illinois, where they founded the 
town of Nauvoo. Here their numbers increased to 
10,000, and they defied the laws of the state. Finally 
Smith and his brother were arrested and imprisoned. 
In June, 1844, a mob broke into the jail and killed 
the prisoners. Other violent acts occurred directed 
against the Mormons, and in 1846 some of them re- 
moved to the west. The main body reached the 
Great Salt Lake in 1848, and thus Utah Territory had 
its origin. 

During the last year of Tyler's administration the 
attention of the nation was attracted to the south- 
west by the question of admitting the republic of 
Texas as a state. The country which now comprises 
the state of that name had been under the control of 



;^88 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 








BUNKER HILL MONUMEi'JT. 



T YLER ' S A DM INI S TRA TION. 389 

Mexico for some years, but in 1820 Moses Austin, of 
Connecticut, obtained a grant of land, and two years 
later his son Stephen settled some colonists there, 
who soon increased in numbers. In 1835 the province 
proclaimed its independence. In the first battle 500 
Texans defeated twice their number of Mexicans. In 
the spring of 1836 the Texan fort of Alamo was capt- 
ured by a large force of Mexicans under President 
Santa Anna and the garrison cruelly massacred. But 
soon a final battle was fought at San Jacinto and the 
independence of Texas was secured. Before the close 
of Jackson's administration the United States had 
recognized the new government, 

Texas at once asked to be admitted as a state of the 
Union. Van Buren opposed granting the request, for 
fear of a war with Mexico. In the latter part of Ty- 
ler's administration the question again came up. The 
population of Texas was over 200,000, and its territory 
was five times as large as Pennsylvania. The south 
naturally favored the annexation, because of the in- 
creased area and political strength that would be de- 
voted to the cause of slavery if Texas were a state. 
For the same reason the north opposed the scheme. 
The one section of the country controlled the Demo- 
cratic party, the other the Whig party; and the na- 
tional election that occurred in the fall of 1844 was 
preceded by a bitter campaign. The Democracy put 
in nomination James K. Pclk, of Tennessee, and Rich- 
ard M. Dallas; the Whigs selected Henry Clay and 
Theodore Frelinghuysen. The former triumphed. 

During the session of Congress that extended 
through the winter of 1844-45 the question of annex- 
ing Texas was hotly debated. Finally a bill provid- 
ing for its annexation was carried, and President Tyler 
gave his assent on March 1st. 

The day before Tyler's term expired he also signed 
the bills for the admission of Florida and Iowa, but 



390 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the latter did not become a member of the Union till 
1846, In 1844 the first electric telegraph line in the 
world was established between Baltimore and Wash- 
ington. Professor Samuel F. B. Morse, of Massa- 
chusetts, had invented the telegraph as early as 1832, 
but it was not until eleven years later that he ob- 
tained an appropriation from Congress of $30,000 for 
the construction of this line. The principle of the 
telegraph had been known long before Morse com- 
menced his experiments, but he was the first to make 
the invention of practical use. 



POLK'S ADAIINISTRATION, 



391 



CHAPTER LII. 

folk's administration 1845-1849 THE MEXICAN 

WAR. 

Sketch of Polk — Texas admitted to the Union — Disputes with 
Mexico — Hostilities commence — Fort Brown attacked — The 
Mexicans are defeated at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma — 
Fort Brown relieved — Receipt of the news in the United 
States — Plans for prosecuting the war — Monterey captured by 
the Americans — An armistice — Santa Anna — Pamlico capt- 
ured by the Americans — Kearney in New Mexico — Fremont 
and others in California — Doniphan's brilliant march — Scott's 
invasion of Mexico — Taylor's victory at Buena Vista — Scott 
captures Vera Cruz — His victory at Cerro Gordo — Perote and 
Puebla taken — Campaign around the City of Mexico — The 
20th of August — Molino del Rey and Chapultepec captured — 
Scott enters the City of Mexico — Final endeavors of Santa 
Anna — A treaty of peace — Its provisions — Controversy with 
England — "Fifty-four forty or fight" — The "gold-fever of 
'49" — Deaths of Jackson and Adams — Wisconsin admitted to 
the Union — The Cabinet — The " Wilmot Proviso" — Election 
of Taylor and Fillmore. 

James K. Polk was born in North Carolina in No- 
vember, 1795, and was in his fiftieth year when inaug- 
urated on the 4th of March, 1845. None of his prede- 
cessors had achieved this honor till several years later 
in life. While still a boy he had accompanied his father 
to Tennessee, where he had grov^n up. He had repre- 
sented his state in Congress for fourteen years, and 
had been Speaker of the House. Previous to his 
election as President he had been governor of Ten- 
nessee. James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, was select- 
ed as Secretary of State. 



392 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

On the 4th of July, 1845, a convention in Texas 
approved of the annexation, and a new state was 
added to the Union. Difficulties soon followed with 
Mexico. That country had already committed dep- 
redations on American commerce in the Gulf of Mex 
ico and had plundered American merchants within 
her borders; but the annexation of Texas brought 
the matter to a head. Mexico claimed that the 
Nueces River was the southwestern border of Texas, 
while that state claimed to extend to the Rio Grande. 
For the protection of our interests, General Zachary 
Taylor was ordered with an army of occupation to 
take a position as near as possible to the Rio Grande. 
Taylor established a camp at Corpus Christi, on the 
Nueces, in September, 1845. Meanwhile the Mexican 
minister at Washington had demanded his passports 
and left the country. 

In January of 1846 Taylor was ordered to advance 
to the Rio Grande, as negotiations for a peaceful set- 
tlement of the dispute had been rejected by Mexico. 
Taylor began his forward movement in March, and 
after establishing a post of supplies at Point Isabel, 
on the gulf, he proceeded to the Rio Grande and 
built a fort, afterward named Fort Brown, opposite 
Matamoras. 

Meanwhile the Mexican army had begun to gather 
on their northern frontier, and Tayiorhad been warned 
that he was encroaching on Mexican soil. General 
Ampudia demanded his immediate withdrawal, but 
Taylor remained and strength(?ned his defenses. On 
the 24th of April General Arista arrived and took 
command of the Mexican forces. Two days later the 
Americans were notified that hostilities had com- 
menced, and on the same day the first blood was shed 
in the war. Captain Thornton, with a small body of 
troops, was attacked by the Mexicans east of the Rio 
Grande, and afier losing sixteen men was obliged to 
surrender. 



FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION. 



393 



The Mexicans meanwhile had menaced Point Isa- 
bel. Taylor marched to that post with the body of 
his army, leaving a small garrison with Major Brown, 
in whose honor the fort was named. The Mexicans 
on the 3d of May commenced a heavy bombardment 
of the post, which was bravely defended. Taylor 




JAMES K. POLK. 

reached Point Isabel in safety, and almost immedi- 
ately set out on his march back to the relief of Fort 
Brown with about 2,000 men. At noon on the 8th of 
May 6,000 Mexicans, under Arista, were encountered 
at Palo Alto, and a severe battle occurred. After a 
five-hours' contest, in which the American artillery 



394 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

did splendid work, the enemy withdrew. Their loss 
was much heavier than our own. 

The next day Taylor proceeded toward Fort 
Brown, but before reaching that post he again en- 
countered the Mexicans, who had been re enforced, 
at a place called Resaca de la Palma. The Mexicans 
made a better fight than on the previous day, but 
were finally defeated with severe loss, and their gen- 
eral. La Vega, was captured. The Mexican army was 
shattered and fled across the Rio Grande. Fort 
Brown was relieved after its gallant defense, in 
which, hovv'ever, Majcx" Brown had been mortally 
wounded. 

When the news of the first bloodshed reached Wash- 
ington, the President announced to Congress that 
Mexico *' had invaded our territory and shed the blood 
of our fellow-citizens on our own soil." Congress re- 
plied by placing at his disposal $10,000,000 and 
authorizing him to accept 50,000 volunteers. The 
news of the two battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la 
Palma kindled the greatest enthusiasm among the 
people of the United States, and volunteers were nu- 
merous. To General Wool was given the work of 
disciplining the new recruits, with his headquarters at 
San Antonio, Texas. Meanwhile a gigantic plan had 
been formed of carrying on the war. A fleet was to 
be sent around Cape Horn to attack the Pacific coast 
of Mexico, one army was to march through New 
Mexico to California, another was to advance from 
Matamoras, and a third was to invade Mexico from 
the north. 

A few days after the relief of Fort Brown Taylor 
had crossed the Rio Grande and occupied Matamoras. 
The Mexicans fell back to Monterey. Taylor waited 
fop re-enforcements till August, when he sent forward 
General Williarn J. Worth with an advance detach- 
ment and soon followed Ijirpself with the remainder of 



POLK'S ADMIXISTRA TION. 



395 



the army. He commanded in all somewhat over 
6,000 men. He arrived in tke neighborhood of Mon- 
terey on the 19th of September, and tA^o days later 
commenced an active siege of the town, which was 
strongly fortified and defended by about 10,000 men 
under General Ampudia. F'rom the 21st to the 23d 
of the month vigorous assaults were made; the out- 
posts were carried by storm and the United States 
troops fought their way into the streets of the city. 
Sharpshooters climbed to the flat roofs of the houses 
and poured a murderous fire on the Mexicans below. 
Finally the city was surrendered on the morning of 
September 24th. The Mexicans were allowed to 
march out with the honors of war. 

Taylor agreed to an armistice of eight weeks, during 
which the Mexicans continued their warlike prepara- 
tions. Their famous General Santa Anna, who had 
been in exile, had been recalled and made President, 
and he soon took the field at the head of a large army. 
The United States government disapproved of the 
armistice, and on the 15th of November General 
Worth moved forward and occupied Saltillo. Taylor 
advanced to capture Pamlico, on the Gulf of Mexico, 
but at Victoria he halted on learning that the object- 
ive point of his attack had surrendered on the 14th of 
November to an American squadron under Captain 
Connor. General Worth near Saltillo was joined by 
General Wool on the 20th of December, and so affairs 
stood in this quarter at the close of 1846. 

While these events were occurring in the south. 
General Kearney, with the army of the west, had ad- 
vanced froin Fort Leavenworth in June. He reached 
and took possession of Santa Fe; the Mexican troops 
fled at his approach and New Mexico submitted. 
Kearney appointed a governor of the territory, and 
with 400 men continued his march to California, but 
he was soon met w4th the news of the conquest of 



396 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

that region. He sent back the larger part of his force 
and continued with loo men. 

Lieutenant-Colonel John C. Fremont, at the com- 
mencement of the war with Mexico, was engaged in 
exploring the country between the Rocky Mountains 
and the Pacific. When he heard that the struggle 
was impending, he rallied the American pioneers in 
California to his standard and gained several suc- 
cesses over the Mexicans. Commodore Sloat, with 
the American fleet, captured Monterey, en the Cali- 
fornia coast, and later Commodore Stockton, assum- 
ing command, took possession of San Diego. Then 
the land and naval forces joined in capturing Los 
Angeles on the 17th of August. In the latter part of 
the year Kearney arrived, and a final outbreak o*f the 
Mexicans was suppressed on the 8th of January, 1847, 
at San Gabriel. The conquest was complete. Dis- 
putes, however, arose between Fremont and Kearney, 
the superior officer, as to the governorship of the ter- 
ritory. Fremont was ordered home and tried for diso- 
bedience of orders. The sentence of dismissal from 
the service was revoked by President Polk, but Fre- 
mont refused to receive his commission again. 

Meanwhile Colonel Doniphan, who had been left in 
command of the American forces in New Mexico, 
commenced a brilliant exploit. With less than 1,000 
men he marched southward, subdued the Indians, 
fought a successful battle against a much superior 
force of Mexicans at Bracito in the latter part of De- 
cember, gained another victory at Sacramento Creek 
on February 28, 1847, against overwhelming odds, 
took possession of Chihuahua, a city of 40,000 inhabit- 
ants, in March, and joined General Wool at Saltillo in 
May. He had made a victorious march of nearly 
1,000 miles through the enemy's country. 

At the beginning of 1847 General Scott arrived in 
Mexico to commence an invasion of the country. 



rOLK' S A D MINIS TRA TION. 



397 



With this purpose in view he was obliged to order a 
large part of Taylor's army to join him on the gulf. 
This command was as unpleasant for the one general 
as it was mortifying to the other, but it was necessary 
and was at once obeyed. 

Taylor united his depleted forces and those of Gen- 
eral Wool, and with about 5,000 men took a strong 
position at Buena Vista, a few miles south of Salti'lo. 
On the 22d of February an army of 20,000 Mexicans 
drew near. Their commander, Santa Anna, demanded 
an immediate surrender, assuring the American gen- 
eral that he could expect 
nothing better than a rout 
if he should give battle. 
Taylor at once refused to 
comply with the Mexican 
demand. On the morning 
of the 23d the enemy hurled 
themselves on the Ameri- 
can right and center, only to 
be repulsed. They gained 
a temporary advantage on 
the left, but were soon 
driven back. Charge after 
charge met with no greater 
success. The American ar- 
tillery and cavalry did no- 
ble work. The battle lasted all day, and during the 
night the Mexicans withdrew. Their loss amounted 
to nearly 2,000. The American loss, though severe, 
was not so great, amounting to 746 men. Taylor soon 
returned to the United States and was warmlv re- 
ceived by the people. 

General Scott began the invasion of Mexico on the 
9th of March, 1847, by landing near Vera Cruz. The 
town was strong^ly fortified and defended by the isl- 
and Castle of San Juan d'Ulloa, which the Mexicans 




GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT. 



39^ 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



considered almost impregnable. Scott had an army 
of about 12,000 men, and the co-operation of a fleet 
under Commodore Connor, The city was soon in- 
vested, and a demand for its surrender having been 
refused, a fierce cannonade was commenced on the 
22d of March. For four days the bombardment was 
continued, the Mexicans replying with energy and 
some effect, but on the 27th the city and castle sur- 
rendered, with 5,000 prisoners and 500 pieces of artil- 
lery. 

Two days after the surrender Scott entered the 
city, and on the 8th of April General Twiggs led the 
American advance into the interior. The Mexicans, 
12,000 strong, blocked the road at Cerro Gordo. 
Here Santa Anna had taken a strong position in 
a mountain pass. Scott had followed and joined 
Twiggs, and on the i8th of April an attack was made 
by the inferior forces of the Americans. The heights 
were taken by storm and the Mexicans utterly routed, 
with the loss of 1,000 men, besides many prisoners, 
arms, and equipments. The American loss was 431. 

The next day our forces entered the city of Jalapa, 
and on the 22d of the month they took possession 
unopposed of the Castle of Perote, oji a peak of the 
Cordilleras. On the 15th of May Scott occupied, 
without resistance, the considerable city of Puebla. 
Here he paused awhile for re-enforcements, and nego- 
tiations were opened to secure peace, but the Mexican 
government would not yield. 

Scott received his re-enforcements during the sum- 
mer, and in the early part of August he advanced 
once more with about 10,000 men. He crossed the 
heights of the Cordilleras, from which he gazed at 
the beautiful and fertile valley in which the City of 
Mexico lay, surrounded by lakes and by rocky hills 
which were strongly fortified. The army reached 
Ayotla, within fifteen miles of the capital. -It was 



POLK'S ADMINTSTKA TION. 399 

determined to attack the capital on its weakest side, 
the south and west. A detour was therefore made 
around Lake Chalco, and the Americans reached San 
Augustine. Thence the road led on causeways over 
the marshes to the City of Mexico, and was defended 
by the strong fortifications of Cherubusco and Cha- 
pultepec. On the left of the road was the fortified 
camp of Contreras, and defenses at San Antonio and 
Molino del Rey. General Santa Anna was in com- 
mand of the Mexican army, numbering 30,000 men, 
who guarded the city. 

The 20th of August was made memorable by five 
victories for the United States troops. Early in the 
morning General Smith, after an engagement of less 
than twenty minutes, drove General Valencia from 
Contreras and occupied the camp. General Worth 
assaulted and gained possession of San Antonio; 
then, in company with General Pillow, he carried 
one of the heights of Cherubusco, and General 
Twiggs secured the other. In the meantime Gen- 
erals Pierce and Shields had held Santa Anna and his 
reserves in check. The American army, with a loss 
of 1,100 men, had inflicted on an enemy of triple their 
number a loss of 4,000 in killed and wounded and 
3,000 in prisoners. 

Th« next day the Mexicans asked for an armistice, 
which Scott granted in the hope of peace. But the 
proposals for peace were rejected and Santa Anna, in 
violation of the armistice, strengthened the defenses 
of the city. Scott determined to renew hostilities. Early 
on the morning of the 8th of September General 
Worth attacked Molino del Rey and Casa de Mata, 
a group of stone buildings which defended Chapul- 
tepec on the west. He led less than 4,000 Americans 
in a desperate assault on 14,000 Mexicans, and though 
at first driven back, finally carried the positions. It 
was done, however, with the loss of nearly 800 men. 



400 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The loss of the enemy numbered 200 more than our 
own. 

On the 1 2th of the month a heavy bombardment was 
commenced on Chapultepec itself, and the next day 
the citadel was carried by storm. The Mexicans fled 
to the city and were pursued to its very walls. That 
night Santa Anna and the officers of the government 
fled from the city with the army. Early the next 
morning, the 14th of September, i§47, Scott entered 
the capital of Mexico, and the stars and stripes were 
unfurled over the Halls of the Montezumas. 

The successful result of this brilliant campaign virt- 
ually ended the war. There was only one subse- 
quent event of importance. Santa Anna, when he 
abandoned the City of Mexico, went to Puebla, which 
place had already been besieged by the Mexicans. 
Major Childs had been left at this place in charge of 
about 1,800 sick men. He made a brave defense with 
his small garrison and was soon relieved by General 
Lane, who was advancing with re-enforcements for 
Scott. Santa Anna was attacked and driven away 
in the latter part of September. Once more in the 
next month he was defeated, and now his troops de- 
serted him, Santa Anna became a fugitive. The mil- 
itary power of Mexico was thoroughly broken. In an 
aggressive campaign on foreign soil the United States 
troops had gained a series of brilliant victories, often 
against double or quadruple their number. 

On the 2d of February, 1848, commissioners from 
the United States and the Mexican Congress signed a 
treaty of peace at Guadalupe Hidalgo. Both govern- 
ments ratified the agreement, and on the 4th of July, 
1848, President Polk proclaimed peace. The treaty 
not only settled the southwestern boundary of Texas 
at the Rio Grande, as our government had claimed, 
but it gave us New Mexico and California. In return 
the United States was to withdraw its troops from 



POLK ' S A DM IX IS TRA TIOiY. 40 1 

Mexico, and in consideration for the ceded territory 
was to pay into the Mexican treasury $15,000,000, be- 
sides assuming debts due from Mexico to American 
citizens not to exceed $3,500,000. So ended the Mexi- 
can War. 

This conflict naturally occupies the chief place in 
Polk's administration, but there are other events 
which deserve mention. The United States had for 
many years claimed that Oregon extended to fifty- 
four degrees and forty minutes north latitude. Eng- 
land, on the other hand, asserted that the forty-ninth 
degree was the true boundary. Since i827*the people 
of both nations had by a mutual understanding occu- 
pied the disputed territory in common; but in 1846 
our government gave notice of the termination of 
the agreement. A treaty signed at Washington in 
June, 1846, settled our northwestern boundary at the 
forty-ninth parallel and gave Vancouver's Island to 
England. During the controversy attending the set- 
tlement of this question the famous cry of " Fifty- 
four forty or fight '' was adopted by those who dis- 
approved of yielding our claims. In 1853 the north- 
ern part of Oregon was separated under the name of 
Washington Territory. 

It was in the month of February, 1848, that gold 
was discovered in California on the American fork of 
the Sacramento River, Similar discoveries were 
made in other places. The news spread over the 
country, and in a few months emigrants from the 
States, from Europe, from South America, from Asia, 
were making their way by land and sea to the gold- 
fields. The " gold-fever of '49 " aided vastly in build- 
ing up our Pacific slope. The population of Cali- 
fornia at the close of the Mexican W^ar was about 
15,000; four years later it numbered 264,000. 

In 1845 General Jackson died, and three years later 
John Quincy Adams also passed away. In 1848 Wis- 



402 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

consin was admitted to the Union as the thirtieth state. 
Before the close of Polk's administration an addition 
was made to the President's Cabinet of the Home De- 
partment, afterward called the Department of the In- 
terior. This completed the Cabinet as it exists to- 
day, composed of the heads of seven departments. 
Its members are known as the Secretaries of State, 
of the Treasury, of War, of the Navy, and of the In- 
terior, and the Postmaster-General and Attorney- 
General. 

In 1846 David Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, proposed 
a bill in Congress prohibiting slavery in the territory 
which might be gained from Mexico in the war then 
commencing. This " Wilmot Proviso," as it was 
called, was defeated, but its supporters formed the 
Free-soil party. 

In the national election that occurred in the fall of 
1848, an ex-President, Martin Van Buren, was nom- 
inated by this new party. The contest lay principal- 
ly, however, between the other two candidates in the 
field — General Lewis Cass, of Michigan, the choice 
of the Democrats, and General Zachary Taylor, of 
Kentucky, the nominee of the Whigs. The war rec- 
ord of the latter had made him very popular, and he 
was elected, with Millard Fillmore, of New York, as 
Vice-President. 



TA YLOR'S ADMINISTKA TION. 



403 



CHAPTER LIII. 

ADMINISTRATIONS OF TAYLOR AND FILLMORE 

1849-1853. 

Sketch of Taylor — California asks admission as a state — The slav- 
ery question revived — The ''Omnibus Bill" — Death of Tay- 
lor — Fillmore becomes President — The Omnibus Bill signed — 
The fugitive-slave law creates ill feeling — Deaths of Calhoun, 
Clay, and Webster — Filibustering expeditions of Lopez — 
France and England propose a " Tripartite Treaty " — Edward 
Everett's reply — Polar expeditions — Louis Kossuth — Dispute 
concerning the Newfoundland fisheries — Settled in favor of 
the United States — Election of Pierce and King. 

Zachary Taylor, born in November, 1784, was in 
his sixty-fifth year when inaugurated. The 4th of 
March, 1849, being a Sunday, the ceremonies did 
not take place till the next day. Taylor was a Vir- 
ginian by birth, but while still an infant his father 
rerhoved to Kentucky. He had gained an enviable 
military reputation by his services in the War of 
1S12, the Seminole War, and especially in the war 
with Mexico. 

Taylor's administration saw another crisis in the 
slavery question, which now became the one absorb- 
ing subject of popular agitation and discussion till it 
was forever settled by arms. The particular event 
which raised the issue at this time was the applica- 
tion of California for admission as a state. The peo- 
ple of this rapidly growing region had organized a 
government and adopted a constitution in which 
slavery was prohibited. The north, of course, favored 
this application, and the south opposed it. Other 



404 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

points of difference added to the heat of debate. The 
south desired a more satisfactory law for the return 
of slaves escaping to the free states, and the north 
insisted on the abolition of the slave-trade in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia. Moreover, Texas again attracted 
public attention by her claims to New Mexico. 




ZACHARY TAYLOR. 



Violent public agitation and Congressional debates, 
accompanied even with threats of secession by the 
south, resulted finally in a compromise proposed by a 
senatorial committee of thirteen, of which Henry Clay 
was chairman. The Compromise Act, which they re- 
ported to the Senate in May, 1850, came to be called 



TA YLOR'S ADMINISTRA TION. 



405 



the '' Omnibus Bill," from the number of separate 
measures which it embraced. It provided for the ad- 
mission of California as a free state ; for the creation 
of the territories of Utah and New Mexico without 
mention of slavery ; for the payment of $10,000,000 
to Texas in satisfaction of her claims to the latter ter- 




MILLARD FILLMORE. 



ritory ; for the abolition of the slave-trade in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia ; and finally for a more rigorous 
fugitive-slave law. 

The debates on this measure lasted till September. 
It was supported by Clay and other southern leaders, 
and generally opposed by the north, though Daniel 



4o6 IIISrORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Webster gave his adherence to it in a memorable 
speech wliich was bitterly condemned by many of his 
former followers. In the midst of the discussion 
President Taylor died, on the 9th of July, 1850. The 
next day Millard- Fillmore assumed the Presidential 
chair, in his fifty-first year, having been born in New 
York in January, 1800. From a humble origin he had 
risen to eminence in the profession of law and had rep- 
resented his state in Congress. He appointed a new 
Cabinet, with Daniel Webster as Secretary of State. 

On the 9th of September Clay's Compromise Act 
passed Congress and received the assent of President 
Fillmore. The fugitive-slave law especially was 
fiercely denounced at the north. It was evaded and 
sometimes resisted, and its enforcement increased the 
ill feeling between the sections of the country. Fill- 
more was bitterly assailed by the Whig party, which 
had elected him, for giving his approval to the meas- 
ure. 

This period witnessed the death of three other 
distinguished men besides President Taylor, John 
C. Calhoun died in March, 1850, Henry Clay in June, 
1852, and Daniel Webster in October of the same year. 

In 1850 General Lopez, a native of Cuba, organized 
in the United States, in violation of neutrality laws^ 
an expedition to assist the people of his native island 
in revolting against Spain. In the spring of that year 
he landed in Cuba, but met with no co-operation, and 
returned to the United States. In August, 185 1, he 
departed again with 480 followers and landed in 
Cuba, but his forces were attacked and dispersed by 
the Spaniards. He and several of his principal fol- 
lowers were captured and executed. 

These events naturally enough excited a suspicion 
in Europe that the United States meditated the- an- 
nexation of Cuba, though our government disavowed 
any such intention and punished the officer at New 



FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRA TLON. 



407 



Orleans by whose negligence the second expedition of 
Lopez had been permitted. France and England 
proposed a "Tripartite Treaty" with the United 
States, by which each party to the contract was to 
pledge itself now and forever not to attempt the ac- 
quisition of Cuba. Edward Everett, then Secretary 
of State, replied with a masterly paper in December, 
1852. He disclaimed any such intention on the part 
of the United States as v/as suspected, but asserted, in 
accordance with the Mon- 
roe Doctrine, that the ques- 
tion was purely an Ameri- 
can one, in which our gov- 
ernment would not see with 
indifference any foreign in- 
terference. 

In 1850 a rich merchant 
of New York, Henry Grin- 
nell, fitted out at his own 
expense two vessels which 
he sent, under the command 
of Lieutenant De Haven, 
on a voyage to the Arctic 
Ocean. The immediate 
object of the expedition was 
to discover some traces 

of Sir John Franklin, who six years before had sailed 
from Englanci for these northern latitudes. No tid- 
ings had been received of his whereabout during all 
this time, and none were now obtained. In 1853 the 
government joined Grinnell in sending Dr. Eiisha 
Kent Kane on a similar search. Kane and his men 
suffered severely and were forced to abandon their 
ships. They were finally brought home by a relief 
expedition in 1855. They had gained much scientific 
information but did not succeed in finding Franklin, 
though traces of the latter were afterward discovered. 




DANIEL WEBSTER. 



4o8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

In the latter part of 185 i Louis Kossuth arrived in 
tlie United States. He came to secure assistance in 
the struggle of the people of Hungary against the 
tyranny of Austria. The tour of our country which 
the distinguished patriot made in 1852 called forth 
the warmest expressions of sympathy and resulted in 
his obtaining much private assistance for the cause he 
represented, but the settled policy of our government 
prevented any official aid. 

A little difficulty arose wi:h England in the course 
of 1852 regarding the Newfoundland fisheries. Our 
fishing-vessels already possessed the treaty-right of 
pursuing their vocation beyond a line three miles from 
shore. Now the question arose whether, as England 
claimed, that line should be drawn from headland to 
headland, thus shutting our vessels out of the har- 
bors, or whether, as our governmentclaimed, it should 
follow the indentations of the coast-line. Both nations 
sent armed vessels to the locality concerning which 
the question arose, but in 1854 the dispute was settled 
favorably to our claims by negotiation. 

In the national election which occurred in the fall 
of 1852, three parties put candidates in the field. 
They were Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire, nom- 
inated by the Democrats; General Winfield Scott, by 
the Whigs, and John P. Hale, by the Free-soil party. 
The contest resulted in a victory for the Democratic 
candidates, Pierce and William R. King, of Alabama. 



PIERCE'S ADMINISTRA TION, ^09 



CHAPTER LIV. 
Pierce's administration — 185 3-1 85 7. 

Sketch of Pierce — Death of Vice-President King — The " Gadsden 
Purchase " — A treaty with Japan — The Crystal Palace — Fili- 
bustering expeditions of General Walker — Cuban difficulties — 
The Ostend Manifesto — The Martin Koszta affair — The Kan- 
sas-Nebraska Bill — "Squatter Sovereignty" — The slavery 
issue once more — The bill passes — The struggle in Kansas — 
Origin of the Republican party — Election of the Democratic 
candidates, Buchanan and Breckinridge. 

On the 4th of March, 1853, Franklin Pierce was in- 
augurated in his forty-ninth year. He was born in New 
Hampshire, in November, 1804, was graduated from 
Bowdoin College twenty years later, and pursued the 
profession of law. He had represented his native state 
in Congress, both in the House and in the Senate, and 
had served under Scott in Mexico. He appointed 
William L. Marcy, of New York, as his Secretary of 
State. Vice-President King took the oath of office 
in Cuba, where he was sojourning for his health, but 
on returning to his home he died on the i8th of April, 

Another dispute had arisen with Mexico, this time 
concerning the boundary between New Mexico and 
the province of Chihuahua. Santa Anna, who was 
again President of Mexico, sent an armed force to the 
disputed locality, but the quarrel was finally settled 
by the purchase of the Mexican claims. The region 
thus acquired, now forming portions of the territories 
of Arizona and New Mexico, is known as the " Gads- 
den Purchase," in honor of our representative who 



4IO HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

carried on the negotiations. This was in the fiist 
year of Pierce's administration. In the same year a 
party of engineers were sent to explore a route for a 
railroad to connect the eastern and western portions 
of our continent. 

In the summer of 1853 Commodore Perry, brother 
of the hero of Lake Erie, arrived in Japan with a 
squadron of United States vessels. His object was 
to negotiate a commercial treaty with Japan, which 
had hitherto kept her ports closed to the vessels of 
our own and all Christian nations. In the spring of 
1854 he succeeded in concluding a treaty by which 
two Japanese ports were designated as open to Amer- 
ican vessels. 

On the 14th of July, 1853, the Crystal Palace was 
opened in New York for a World's Fair, This was 
the second that had ever been held, the first having 
been opened two years previously in London. The 
Crystal Palace, built by private enterprise, was a 
magnificent structure composed of glass and iron, 
and contained exhibits from every civilized nation. 
The building was destroyed by fire in 1858. 

In the first year of Pierce's Presidential term a se- 
ries of events began which did not end till nearly the 
close of the next administration. These were a 
number of filibustering expeditions led by General 
William Walker against the governments of Central 
America. In 1853 he attacked with a band of fol- 
lowers a town in Lower California, and the next year 
invaded the state of Sonora, in Mexico. He was 
taken prisoner and tried by the authorities of San 
Francisco. Being acquitted, he organized an expe- 
dition in 1855 against Nicaragua, He gained several 
battles, and in the course of the next year became 
President of the state; but an insurrection occurred, 
and in the year 1857 he was driven out. 

Arriving at New Orleans, he secured other follow- 



PIERCE'S ADMIiXISTKA TION. 



411 



ers and invaded Nicaragua again. This time he was 
forced to surrender to Commodore Paulding, of the 
United States Navy, and was taken as a prisoner to 
New York. He was liberated by the government, 
however, and in i860 he set out on his last filibuster- 
ing expedition, this time to Honduras. Here he was 




FRANI-CLIN PIERCE. 



captured and shot. Thus ended his adventurous 
career. 

In the early part of this administration some dif- 
ficulties arose with the authorities in Cuba, which 
again attracted public attention to that island. The 
President directed our embassadors at London, Paris, 



412 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

and Madrid, Messrs. Buchanan, Mason, and Soule, to 
consult on the best way of settling the Cuban ques- 
tion. They accordingly met at Ostend, in Belgium. 
Soon they adjourned to Aix-la-Chapelle, whence on 
the i8th of October, 1854, they addressed a letter to 
the United States government. This document, 
which is known as the Ostend Manifesto, advocated 
the acquisition of Cuba by purchase if possible, but 
by force if necessary. No practical results, however, 
followed. 

A temporary difficulty occurred with Austria about 
this time in which the name of Martin Koszta became 
famous. A few years previously Koszta had been 
engaged in the Hungarian rebellion against Austria. 
When the revolt was crushed he came to the United 
States, where he commenced the steps necessary to 
secure full citizenship in this country. In 1854 he 
went to Turkey on business. At Smyrna "he was 
seized and put on an Austrian man-of-war, to be con- 
veyed to Trieste. The representatives of our govern- 
ment demanded his release. Upon a refusal of the 
demand, Captain Ingraham, commanding the Ameri- 
can sloop of war St. Louis^ cleared his ship for action 
and threatened to open fire. This had a more potent 
effect. Koszta was given into the charge of the 
French consul. The question was then exhaustively 
discussed in an able correspondence between our 
Secretary of State, William L. Marcy, and the Aus- 
trian minister at Washington, from which the Unit- 
ed States emerged triumphant. Koszta was released 
and returned to the home of his adoption. 

Again the question of slavery looms up in all its 
vast proportions. In January, 1854, Stephen A. 
Douglas, of Illinois, presented a bill in the Senate for 
the organization of the country lying between Mis- 
souri, Iowa, and Minnesota on the east and the Pa- 
cific territories on the west into the territories of 



PIER CE'S A DM IN IS TRA TIOiY. 



413 



Kansas and Nebraska. This Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 
as it was called, was discussed vehemently in Con- 
gress, and no less so throughout the country, for it 
contained the provision that the people of these terri- 
tories should decide for themselves whether slavery 
should be prohibited or not — a doctrine that received 
the name of *' Popular," or " Squatter Sovereignty." 
This was practically a repeal of the Missouri Com- 
promise of 1820, by which it was agreed that slavery 
should be prohibited in this region. Nevertheless 
the bill passed in Congress, and on the 31st of May, 
1854, it received Pierce's assent. 

The scene of the struggle was now removed to 
Kansas. As the question whether Kansas should be- 
come a free state or a slave state was to be settled 
by vote, both parties sent settlers to this region. 
The adherents of slavery triumphed and organized 
a government in 1855. But the anti-slavery men 
charged gross fraud in the election and set up a rival 
government. The discussion waxed hot; arms were 
resorted to and frequent conflicts took place between 
the rival faciions. 

In the fall of 1856 the President appointed as gov- 
ernor John W. Geary, under whom peace was grad- 
ually restored. It was not until January, 1861, how- 
ever, near the close of Buchanan's administration, 
that Kansas became a state. When she was admitted 
to the Union it was as a free state. 

The slavery question was the principal line of di- 
vision in the Presidential election that occurred in the 
fall of 1856. Out of the remains of the Whig party a 
new and powerful organization had sprung which was 
anti-slavery in its sentiments. This was the Repub- 
lican party, which selected as its candidates John C. 
Fremont and William L. Dayton. The Democracy 
was committed to the support of the Kansas-Nebraska 
Bill. In its southern section it was thoroughly pro- 



414 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

slavery, and its northern adherents believed that each 
territory or state should decide the question of slavery 
for itself. As representatives of these principles James 
Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, and John C. Breckin- 
ridge, of Kentucky, were chosen. A new political 
organization also appeared in this canvass. The 
American, or Know-nothing party, chiefly opposed to 
foreign influence in the affairs of the United States, 
nominated ex-President Fillmore and A. J. Donelson. 
After an exciting political campaign, a large majority 
for the Democratic candidates resulted in the election 
of Buchanan and Breckinridge. It was during this 
next administration that the final events preceding 
the Civil War occurred. 



B U CHAN AN 'S ADMJNISTRA TION. 4 j 5 



CHAPTER LV. 

Buchanan's administration — 1857-1861. 

Sketch of Buchanan — Trouble with the Mormons — The Atlantic 
cable — Minnesota, Oregon, and Kansas become states — The 
Dred Scott case — Decision by the Supreme Court — Its effect 
on the country — Personal-liberty laws passed in the north — 
- "John Brown's Raid " — His execution — Excitement through- 
out the country — Attack on Senator Sumner — The Democrat- 
ic convention — Its nomination divided — The other parties — 
An exciting canvass — Lincoln and Hamlin elected — Effect in 
the south — South Carolina leads the way in seceding — Ten 
other states follow — Formation of the Confederate States of 
America — Jefferson Davis elected President — The national 
forts in the south seized — Fort Sumter threatened — The Star 
of the West fired on and driven back — Lincoln's journey to 
Washington — The Civil War at hand. 

James Buchanan, born in Pennsylvania on the 13th 
of April, 1791, was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 
1857, at about the age of sixty-six. He had entered 
the profession of law, had been a member of the 
House of Representatives and a Senator, had served 
as minister of the United States to Russia and Eng- 
land, and had been Secretary of State under Presi- 
dent Polk. 

In the first year of his administration trouble oc- 
curred with the Mormons in Utah. Under the gov- 
ernorship of their leader, Brigham Young, the Mor- 
mons had opposed the jurisdiction of the federal 
courts and driven away a judge and other oflficials. 
The President determined that the national authority 
should not be defied in this way. He appointed Al- 
fred Gumming governor of Utah and sent an armed 



4i6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

force into the territory. In October, 1857, the supply- 
train of the troops was attacked and destroyed by the 
Mormons, but the next year peace was restored, and 
after awhile the troops were withdrawn. Utah to-da^C 
contains a considerable population, and her frequent 
applications to be admitted as a state are only denied 
because of the practice of polygamy, which is upheld 
by the Mormon Church. 

The 5th of August, 1858, marked the completion of 
the first Atlantic cable, commenced in the previous 
year. The accomplishment of this great work was 
largely due to the enterprise of Cyrus W. Field, of 
New York. After working successfully for a little 
while a defect in the cable caused an interruption of 
telegraphic communication, which was not resumed 
for some years. 

In 1858 Minnesota became a state, and the next 
year Oregon was added to the others. Kansas was 
admitted as a free state in January, 1861, just before 
the close of Buchanan's administration, making the 
thirty-fourth state in the Union. 

Slavery, however, occupied the chief attention of 
the nation during the whole of Buchanan's adminis- 
tration. The excitement already existing was in- 
creased a few days after the President's inauguration 
by the famous Dred Scott Decision. Dred Scott was 
a negro who had been held in slavery in Missouri. 
His master removed to the free state of Illinois and 
afterward to Minnesota, taking Scott with him. The 
slave had married a wife, v/hom his master had pur- 
chased, and two children were born to the negro 
couple. On returning to Missouri Scott and his fam- 
ily were sold. He brought suit to recover his freedom 
on the ground of his residence for some time in free- 
labor territory. His new master argued in reply that 
Scott was not a citizen of Missouri and therefore 
could not brinorsuit. The iirst state court of Missouri 



B UCHA NAN'S A D MINIS TEA TION 



417 



before which the case was tried gave a verdict for 
Scott, but the second reversed this decision. Then 
the case was taken on appeal to the Supreme Court of 
the United States. 

The trial was held before that tribunal in 1854, but 
the decision was withheld, because of the excited state 




JAMES BUCHANAN. 

of the country, till after Buchanan's inauguration. 
Chief Justice Taney delivered the opinion of the 
court. Six of the Associate Justices concurred and 
only two, McLean and Curtis, dissented. The court 
held that Scott was not a citizen of Missouri and 
therefore was not entitled to bring suit. It further 



41 8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

maintained that negroes were not citizens of the 
United States and could not become so; that Congress 
and legislatures had no right to prohibit the holding 
of slaves; and that therefore the Missouri Compromise 
and similar measures were unconstitutional and void. 
This decision was welcom.ed in the south but bitterly- 
denounced in the north, and it added to the violence 
of the opposition v/hich the two sections of the coun- 
try had now assumed toward each other. Its effect 
was precisely the reverse of quieting the agitation, as 
Buchanan thought it would do. 

Several of the northern states now passed " per- 
sonal-liberty laws," with the intention of securing 
the freedom of any slave who might be brought within 
their borders. Such actions added to the hostility of 
the south. The bitter feelings were intensified in 
1859 by the celebrated " John Brown's Raid." Brown 
had been one of the leaders of the anti-slavery faction 
in Kansas, where he had gained the name of " Ossawat- 
tomie Brown," from the place at which he had offered 
armed resistance to the pro-slavery party. He was 
as brave as a lion and enthusiastic to the point of 
fanaticism. 

Having formed a plan of striking a blow which 
should rouse the slaves in the southern states to in- 
surrection. Brown, with a force of twenty-two men, 
five of whom were negroes, seized the United States 
arsenal at Harper's Ferry. This was on the night of 
October 16, 1859. He arrested several citizens of the 
town, but the militia soon gathered and hemmed him 
in. Shortly United States troops arrived, and after 
a fierce resistance Brown was wounded and captured, 
on the i8th of the month. Only two of his band 
escaped. Thirteen, including two of his sons, were 
killed*or mortally wounded. John Brown, with his 
six remaining companions, was at once tried and sen- 
tenced to be hanged. On the 2d of December he met 
his death with a brave heart. 



BUCHANAN'S ADMINISTRATION, 419 

Now the sectional animosities of the country were 
at fever-heat. The south believed that John Brown's 
action was the result of a northern scheme for liber- 
ating the slaves. The struggle in Kansas was also 
still in progress, and the Free-soil adherents were 
gaining the upper hand. The north, on the other 
hand, had been deeply stirred in many ways against 
the upholders of slavery, and especially by an event 
which had occurred in May, 1856. Senator Sumner, 
of Massachusetts, had delivered a strong anti-slavery 
speech, in which he had made some reflections on 
Senator Butler, of South Carolina. A day or two 
later, while Sumner was sitting in his seat in the 
Senate chamber after the adjournment of that body, 
he was assaulted by Preston S. Brooks, a relative of 
Butler's and a member of the House of Representa- 
tives. Brooks struck the Massachusetts Senator on 
the head with a heavy cane and inflicted injuries 
which lasted several years. 

The excitement caused by these various events was 
at its height when the Democratic convention met at 
Charleston in April, i860, to nominate its candidates 
for the coming election. The northern delegates 
were strongly in favor of nominating Stephen A. 
Douglas for President, and supported his doctrine of 
" Popular Sovereignty." The southern delegates did 
not consider this position favorable enough to the 
cause of slavery, but seeing that they could not con- 
trol the convention they withdrev/. The remaining 
members soon adjourned to Baltimore, where in June 
they nominated Douglas. The seceders went to 
Richmond and afterward to Baltimore, where, also in 
June, they selected John C. Breckinridge, the Vice- 
President at this time, as their candidate for Presi- 
dent. 

In May the National Constitutional Union party, a 
new organization, met in Baltimore, adopted as their 



420 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



motto " The Union, the Constitution, and the En- 
forcement of the Laws," and nominated John Bell. 
The Republican convention assembled in Chicago in 
the same month. The party took strong ground 
against the extension of slavery, and put in nomina- 
tion Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, and Hannibal Ham- 
lin, of Maine. 

The canvass was one of intense earnestness and ex- 
citement. It resulted in the election of Lincoln and 
Hamlin. Lincoln received a large plurality of the 
popular vote, though not an actual majority of all the 
votes cast. In the electoral college, however, he 
had a clear 'majority of 57 over all. All the free 
states cast their electoral vote for him except New 
Jersey, and from that state he secured 4 out of her 
7 votes. Douglas came next to Lincoln in the 
popular vote, but Breckinridge .was second in the 
electoral college. The Democratic party was over- 
thrown and did not succeed in returning to power till 
the election of Grover Cleveland. 

Th^ result of Lincoln's election had been foreseen. 
The South had already declared its purpose of with- 
drawing from the Union in such an event. It be- 
lieved, or affected to believe, that when the Republi- 
can party came to direct the affairs of the government 
their power and the strength of their cherished insti- 
tution of slavery would be diminished. Such a result 
they would not permit without resistance or seces- 
sion. The time was opportune. Soon Lincoln would 
be inaugurated, and a Republican administration 
would not permit their withdrawal from the nation. 
Not so at present. Several members of Buchanan's 
Cabinet were open friends of the southern cause, and 
the President himself, while he did not admit that 
any state had a right to secede, still believed that he 
had not the constitutional power to prevent such an 
act. The southern states took immediate action. 



B UCHA NAN'S A DM IN IS TRA TION, 



421 



South Carolina led the way. A convention, assem- 
bled at Charleston, in that state, on the 20th of De- 
cember, i860, declared that "the union now subsist- 
ing between South Carolina and other states, under 
the name of the United States of America, is hereby 
dissolved." This example was followed during the 
month of January, 1861, by other states in the follow- 
ing order : Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, 
and Louisiana. Texas followed on the ist of Febru- 
ary, Virginia in April, Arkansas and North Carolina 
in May, and Tennessee, mak- 
ing the eleventh seceding 
state, in June. 

On the 4th of February, 
1861, delegates from six of 
these states met at Montgom- 
ery, Alabama, and organized 
a government under the title 
of the Confederate States of 
America. Jefferson Davis, of 
Mississippi, was elected provi- 
sional President, and Alexan- 
der H. Stephens, of Georgia, 
Vice-President. Davis was in- 
augurated as President for 
the term of six years in 1862. 

On the same day that marked this organization 
of the Confederate government a Peace Congress 
met at Washington, but its proposals met with no 
practical results. The representatives of the south 
withdrew from Congress. 

The South at once commenced the work of secur- 
ing the national forts and arsenals which lay within 
her borders. No resistance was offered. Buchanan, 
as we have before stated, maintained that he had no 
constitutional right to interfere before the commence- 
ment of actual hostilities. Moreover, our small army 




JEFFERSON DAVIS. 



422 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



was mostly stationed at frontier posts and our navy 
was scattered in distant quarters of the g'obe. The 
national forces in the south held, of important posts, 
only Fort Moultrie and Fort Sumter, in Charleston 
harbor ; Fort Pickens, at Pensacola, and Fortress 
Monroe, at the entrance of the Chesapeake. When 
the Confederate forces gathered in large numbers in 
Charleston, Major Anderson removed his small gar- 

rison from Fort 

Moultrie to Fort 
Sumter, where 
he could better 
defend himself. 
Theadministra- 
tion made a 
weak attempt to 
re-enforce him 
by sending the 
steamer Star of 
the [Vest with 
men and pro- 
visions. On the 
9th of January, 1861, as she entered Charleston har- 
bor, she was fired on by Confederate batteries and 
forced to retire. 

It was in this same month of January that Kansas 
was admitted to the Union as a free state while the 
work of secession was going on in the south. It was 
a time of intense excitement. Threats had even been 
made that the President-elect would be assassinated 
on his journey to the capital; but Lincoln succeeded 
in passing through Baltimore, where the violence was 
feared, unnoticed, by a night train, and arrived in 
Washington on the 23d of February. There he re- 
mained till his inauguration. 

We now have to narrate the events of an extensive, 
costly, and bloody war. Its importance makes the 




FORT SUMTER. 



BUCHANAN'S ADMINISTRATION, 423 

time of its continuance a separate and distinct period 
in our history. Within a few weeks after Lincoln's 
inauguration the Civil War commenced with the firing 
on Fort Sumter. 



Fifth Period, 



Civil War and Emancipation, 



FIFTH PERIOD. 



CHAPTER LVI. 

CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

Slavery the real cause of the Civil War — Its origin in the United 
States — Its growth — Dies out in the North — But increases in 
the South — The cotton crop — Views of the founders of the 
government — The South seeks to control the nation — Pro- 
slavery legislation — The North at last gains the ascendency — 
The Abolitionists — The Kansas struggle and John Brown's 
raid — Threats of secession in previous years — State Rights — 
Misunderstanding between the North and South — Misappre- 
hension of the extent and character of the coming struggle — 
The eighth census — Greater population and wealth of the 
North. 

Slavery — in one word we may sum up the causes 
of the Civil War. Not that when hostilities com- 
menced the South and the North proclaimed that 
they were fighting for and against slavery. The 
ostensible reason for the struggle was the assertion 
on the part of the South of the doctrine of State 
Rights — that any state could at its pleasure nullify 
an act of the national government and withdraw 
from the Union, But the growth and maintenance 
of this doctrine in the south is directly traceable to 
the influence of slavery in that region of the country, 
and by briefly tracing the history of slavery in the 
United States we may readily see its effects. 



42 8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Thirteen years after the founding of the first per- 
manent English colony in America — that is, in 1620 — 
the first slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia. 
The system of slave-labor existed at one time or an- 
other in every one of the thirteen original colonies. 
In 1790, just after the formation of our present gov- 
ernment, there were nearly 700,000 slaves scattered 
through the various states. Massachusetts was the 
only state where there were no slaves; but through- 
out the north there were comparatively few. More 
than six-sevenths of the whole number were held 
south of the famous Mason and Dixon's line, which 
separated Pennsylvania from Maryland. The preva- 
lence of slavery in this section of the country was 
partly due to the character of the settlers, who were 
less energetic than those of the north, and also largely 
to the influence of the warm climate, which increased 
their natural indolence and at the same time made it 
somewhat dangerous for white men to work in the 
fields and swamps. The natives of Africa could en- 
dure the heat of the sun with less discomfort. 

In 1793 an event occurred which increased the de- 
mand for slave-labor. This was Eli Whitney's inven- 
tion of the cotton-gin, by which the preparation of 
cotton for the market was made much easier. The 
raising of cotton, therefore, became much more profit- 
able, and the industry grew during the next half-cent- 
ury to vast proportions. Before the Civil War seven- 
eighths of all the cotton crop of the world was raised 
in the United States. For the cultivation of cotton 
and tobacco slaves were required in greater numbers 
than ever, and in i860 there were nearly 4,000,000 of 
them south of Mason and Dixon's line. 

Many of the founders of our government — Wash- 
ington, Jefferson, Hamilton, Franklin, Madison — saw 
the great evils of slavery, though Washington him- 
self was a slave-holder. The proposition to pro- 



CAUSES OF thl: civil war. 



429 



hibit slavery in the Northwest Territory was brought 
fop.vard by Jefferson. After 1808 the importation of 
slaves was forbidden. But in the course of time^ as 
the importance of slave-labor increased in the south, 
that section of the country became a practical un t 
for maintaining it, while in the north the abolition 
sentiment was growing. 

It soon became evident that the South and North w^ere 
arrayed against each other on this question, and that 
Congress was the scene of their struggle. The more 
rapid increase of population in the north made it im- 
possible for the South to control as many supporters in 
the House of Representatives as the opposing element. 
But to the Senate each state, large or small, elects 
two members. If, therefore, the South could prevent 
more free states than slave states from being ad- 
mitted to the Union, they would preserve the balance 
of power in the Senate and thus have a check on the 
actions of the lower body. 

To this end they devoted their energies, and with 
signal success. For a considerable time they held the 
upper hand in the main in controlling the govern- 
ment. The Missouri Compromise — 1820-21 — was 
more gratifying to the South than to the North. 
The admission of Texas in 1845 added a slave state 
to the Union and precipitated a war. The Omnibus 
Bill of 1850 secured a more vigorous fugitive-slave 
law. The Kansas-Nebraska Bill of 1S54 practically 
repealed the provision of the Missouri Compromise 
prohibiting slavery in new territories north of 
thirty-six degrees thirty minutes. The Dred Scott 
decision of 1857, rendered by the Supreme Court of 
the United States, declared that negroes could not 
become citizens and that Congressional restrictions 
on slavery were unconstitutional and therefore null 
and void. 

For a while, too, the balance between free and slave 



430 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

States was preserved. In 1848 there were thirty 
states, evenly divided in this respect. But in the 
next ten years the admission of California, Oregon, 
and Minnesota gave a majority to the North in Con- 
gress of six Senators and sixty Representatives. The 
struggle in Kansas resulted in a defeat of slavery. 
With the election of Lincoln the South felt that her 
political supremacy was gone — she no longer could 
control the government. 

While the social and political power of slavery was 
growing in the south, a strong anti-slavery sentiment 
was rising in the north. Slavery was abolished in 
one state after another. Anti-slavery societies were 
formed. In 1831 William Lloyd Garrison com- 
menced the publication of The Liberator^ advocating 
immediate emancipation. The steady persistence of 
Garrison and the burning eloquence of Wendell 
Phillips gathered a powerful following of abolition- 
ists. Some of these v/ent to the extreme of believing 
disunion would have to be resorted to, for they saw 
no prospect of crushing slavery in a constitutional way. 
Moreover, the North was not a unit against slavery 
as the South was for it. There were many who sym- 
pathized with slavery, or who at least did not indorse 
the anti-slavery enthusiasts. The leaders in that 
cause suffered much from social odium, and even met 
with violence at the hands of pro-slavery mobs. 

But the abolition movement strengthened in spite 
of opposition. Aid was given to slaves in making 
their escape to Canada, where their freedom would 
be secure, and personal-liberty laws were passed by 
some of the states to insure the freedom of any slave 
who reached their borders. When the struggle be- 
gan in Kansas numerous anti-slavery colonists were 
sent to that region. John Brown's laid evoked much 
enthusiasm in the north, and its hero was thought by 
many to have suffered the death of a martyr in the 
cause of freedom. 



CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR. 



431 



Ve are now in a position to see how it came about 
that slavery was not the immediate and apparent 
cause of the Civil War, while it v/as the original and 
essential cause. It was natural in a government con- 
stituted as our own is, in which so much power is left 
to the separate states, that a national policy which 
did not meet with the approbation c^ any section of 
the country should call forth threats of secession. In 
our earlier history as a nation it was New England 
that talked of withdrawing from the Union because 
of the injury to her commerce, which was inevitable 
in the foreign complications that culminated in the 
War of 1812. But when high duties were levied on 
imported goods to the benefit of the manufacturing 
localities and the detriment of the agricultural re- 
gions, the South began to talk of nullification and 
state sovereignty. It will be remembered that vigor- 
ous action was necessary from President Jackson, in 
1832, to bring South Carolina to terms for recom- 
mending resistance to the collection of duties. 

Nov/ the doctrine of State Rights, or State Sov- 
ereignty, which had long been held in the south, was 
distinctly advocated once more. This section re- 
fused to be governed by the opponents of its cher- 
ished institution. It was asserted that the United 
States of America was a confederacy of sovereign 
states which could be dissolved for sufficiently grave 
reasons. These grounds, it was maintained, had been 
given by the election of a Republican President, which 
insured a vigorous policy against the extension of 
slavery and its political supremacy. The North on 
this point was much more unanimous than on the 
slavery question pure and simple. They asserted that 
the states were subordinate to the general government 
and that the Union was intended to be, and should be, 
maintained as an indissoluble bond. For these rea- 
sons both sides took up arms, and from the smoke of 
the conflict the nation emerged a united whole. 



432 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The bitterness of the feeling between the sect/ons 
of the country had been intensified by a mutua) mis- 
understanding. The principal railroads and the 
course of emigration lay from the Atlantic coast inland, 
and the North and South had less intercourse with, 
and consequently less knowledge of, each other. It 
was natural, therefore, that, opposed as they were on 
these questions, the South should call the Yankees a 
set of narrow-minded and meddling fanatics, and that 
the North should believe its southern brethren were 
ignorantly and inhumanly devoted to the support of 
a barbarous institution and were unpatriotic rebels. 

And most surprising it'is, when we look back at this 
period in our history, that neither side appreciated for 
an instant the extent and terrible character of the 
war into which they were soon plunged. The North 
believed that the South would not dare to fight with 
4,000,000 of slaves in its midst. The South believed 
that the North was disunited, that the favor of France 
and England, who needed cotton, would insure its 
success, and that the separation would be peaceful. 
Nevertheless they had gradually prepared for war, 
and at the time when hostilities broke out were in a 
much better military condition than the North. 

The population of the United States in i860 num- 
bered over 31,000,000. In the early part of 1861, be- 
fore the conflict began, the thirty-fourth state, Kansas, 
was admitted to the Union. The northern and east- 
ern portions of the country were chiefly devoted to 
commerce and manufacture, the south and west to 
agriculture. The country had grown enormously in 
population, in wealth, in variety of industries since 
the days of the Revolution, most especially in the 
north. And the North soon recovered from its first 
surprise at the commencement of the Civil War and 
quickly rallied its greater wealth and population for 
the maintenance of the Union. 



CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR. 



433 



Such was the state of the country at the opening of 
the Civil War. Such were the causes — the apparent 
cause the doctrine of State Sovereignty, the real, orig- 
inal, and ultimate cause Slavery — that plunged the 
nation into a bitter war between brothers of one race 
and one nation. 



434 HISTORY OF rilE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER LVII. 

Lincoln's adaiinistration — 1861-1865 — the civil 

WAR 1 86 I. 

Sketch of Lincoln — His inaugural address and Cabinet — Fort Sum- 
ter bombarded — It is evacuated — Effect on the country — 
Northern soldiers attacked by a Baltimore mob — The Con- 
federates secure Harper's Ferry and Norfolk navy-yard — 
Richmond their capital — The campaigns in West Virginia — 
Big Bethel — Harper's Ferry reoccupied by the Federals — 
Union defeat at Bull Run — Effect on the nation — Ball's 
Bluff — The campaigns in Missouri — The Federals lose and re- 
occupy Lexington — Fremont — Grant at Belmont — Hatteras 
Inlet and Port Royal Sound — The Trent affair — Mason and 
Slidell captured — They are finally released. 

Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky on the T2th 
of February, 1809. When he was about seven years 
of age his father removed to Indiana, and when 
twenty-one Lincoln settled in Illinois. He was a 
striking example of the possibility in our free country 
of rising from humble surroundings to the highest 
position in the nation. He received a very small 
amount of school education, but did much for himself 
in gathering knowledge. He was at various times a 
ferryman, a flat-boatman on the Mississippi, a farmer, 
a clerk in a store. In 1832 he served as a captain of 
volunteers in the Black Hawk War. He was elected 
to the Illinois legislature in 1834, commenced the 
practice of law in 1837, and rose to prominence. He 
was elected to Congress in 1846. Later on, as a can- 
didate for United States Senator, he was defeated by 
Stephen A. Douglas, but in the debates with his op- 



LINCOLN'S ADMINISTKA TION. 



435 



ponent he gained a national reputation. On the 4th 
of March, 186 1, at the age of fifty-two, he took the 
oath of office, and entering on his Presidential duties 
at a peculiarly trying time, he managed the affairs of 
the nation with great wisdom and fidelity. His genial 




Cyhx^cTt 



Cyt-x^' 



nature, strong will, and conscientious motives have 
endeared his memory to the nation. 

Lincoln's inaugural address declared his intention 
of enforcing the laws, preserving the Union, and re- 
takmg the public property which had been seized by 



436 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the Confederates. His nominations of Cabinet officers 
were immediately confirmed by the Senate. William 
H. Seward became Secretary of State; Salmon P. 
Chase Secretary of the Treasury; Sim.eon Cameron 
(succeeded in 1862 by Edwin M. Stanton) Secretary 
of War, and Gideon Welles Secretary of the Navy. 

The purpose of the government to re-enforce the 
National forts was forestalled by the Confederates in 
Charleston. It will be remembered that Major An- 
derson had retired from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sum- 
ter. His whole force consisted of about seventy men. 
The Confederates had gathered in large numbers at 
Charleston, under the command of General P. G. T. 
Beauregard, and batteries had been erected. On the 
nth of April, 1861, a summons was sent to Anderson 
to surrender. He refused. The next morning at 4.30 
o'clock the Confederate batteries opened fire. For 
thirty-four hours a terrific bombardment was kept up, 
to which the garrison responded. But the odds were 
against them, and after sustaining severe injuries to 
the walls and buildings, though no lives were lost on 
either side, Anderson evacuated the fort on the 14th 
of the month with the honors of war. 

The firing on Fort Sumter roused the country like 
an electric shock. The South was consolidated by it: 
the North was united. Two days after the evacuation 
of Sumter the President issued a call for 75,000 vol- 
unteers. A prompt response was made by the North. 
On the 19th of April one of the first regiments to 
march to the front, the Sixth Massachusetts, passed 
through Baltimore. Though Maryland never formed 
part of the Confederacy, the disunion sentiment was 
strong within her borders. The Massachusetts regi- 
ment was attacked and three of its members killed 
and others wounded. The mob also suffered. The 
first bloodshed of the war tremendously increased the 
excitement throughout the country. 



LINCOLN'S ADMINLSTRA LION. 



437 



On the i8th of April the National forces at Har- 
per's Ferry were forced to evacuate the armory at 
the approach of Southern troops. On the 20th the 
navy-yard at Norfolk was menaced, and the Union 
soldiers were withdrawn after firing the buildings 
and ships. The Confederates secured at this post 
2,000 cannon and afterward rais'ed some of the scut- 
tled vessels. The Confederates wece crowding to- 
ward the capital 
with the cry of 
*'On to Wash- 
ington !" The 
alarming pro- 
portions which 
events had as- 
siimed com- 
pelled President 
Lincoln on the 
3d of May to 
call for 83,000 
more soldiers for 
service during 
the war. Lieu- 
tenant - General 
Winfield Scott 
was commander- 




LINCOLN S EARLY HOME IN ILLINOIS. 



in-chief. A block- 
ade of the southern ports had already been declared, 
and as many vessels as possible of our miserably 
small navy were sent to enforce it. The Confederates 
selected Richmond as their capital; at that place their 
Congress met, and thence Davis and his Cabinet di- 
rected the movements of the South. 

West Virginia was the scene of some of the earliest 
conflicts. On the 3d of June a battle occurred at 
Philippi, where the Confederates were defeated and 
driven back. General George B. McClellan soon ar- 



438 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

rived and took command in person. A part of his 
force, under General Rosecrans, gained another vic- 
tory at Rich Mountain on July nth. The Confeder- 
ates made a stand on the Cheat River and were again 
defeated. On the loth of August Rosecrans attacked 
General Floyd at Carnifex Ferry and forced the Con- 
federates to retreat. • On the 14th of the next month 
another Union victory was gained at Cheat Mountain. 
West Virginia was secured, and the important line of 
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was safe. 

Meanwhile, the Confederate General Magruder had 
moved toward Fortress Monroe. General B. F. -But- 
ler, in command at that post, sent a force to dislodge 
him, but a battle fought on the loth of June at Big 
Bethel resulted in the repulse of the National troops. 
On the next day a victory was gained in another 
quarter. Colonel Lewis Wallace made a brilliant and 
successful attack on the Confederates at Romney, 
now in West Virginia. General Patterson soon sup- 
ported this movement by throwing a considerable 
force across the Potomac. The Confederates had 
retired to Winchester, and the Union troops once 
^more occupied Harper's Ferry. 

To meet the threatened danger to Washington, 
Union troops had crossed the Potomac on the 24th of 
May and occupied Alexandria. In July the Confed- 
erates were massed at Manassas Junction under Gen- 
eral Beauregard and had General Joseph E. Johnston 
within supporting distance. The Union forces in 
front of Washington were commanded by General 
McDowell, as Scott was too feeble to take the field. 
These were now pushed forward, and a sharp engage- 
ment occurred on the i8th of July, near Centreville, 
on Bull Run, which resulted successfully for the Con- 
federates. 

But the name of Bull Run was destined to become 
more famous. Between that stream and Manassas 



LINCOLN'S ADMLYISTRA TION. 



439 



Junction the main bodies of the two armies met on 
Sunday morning, July 21st. A fierce battle occurred. 



i 



m 




The advantage of numbers was with the Federals, 
and after several hours' fighting they seemed likely 



440 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

to gain a complete victory. But about 3 o'clock in 
the afternoon the Confederates were re-enforced by 
6,000 fresh troops, Johnston had eluded Patterson, 
who had been sent to watch the Confederates in the 
Shenandoah Valley. As senior officer he assumed 
command, and the fresh regiments hurled themselves 
on the exhausted ranks of the Federals. The seem- 
ing victory was turned into an utter rout. A panic 
seized the Union troops and they fled in a disorgan- 
ized mass back to Washington. The Federals had 
lost 2,952; the Confederates about 2,000. 

Bull Run, the first great battle of the war, added to 
the enthusiasm of the Confederates and the belief in 
their military prowess. They had, indeed, many brave 
soldiers, as subsequent events showed. Their leaders 
had been educated in the National army, and at the 
outbreak of the Civil War had cast their lot with their 
native states. The battle, on the other hand, dis- 
heartened the North. The idea of pressing at once 
to Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, was 
shattered at one blow, and every thought was given 
to the protection of Washington. General McClellan 
was called to the command of the Army of the Po- 
tomac, and spent several months in organizing and 
disciplining an effective force. Strong defenses were 
erected to secure the safety of the capital. On the 
ist of November General Scott, now old in years, re- 
tired from active service and McClellan succeeded 
him as commander-in-chief. In the meantime, on the 
2ist of October, a force of about 2,500 men had been 
thrown across the Potomac at Ball's Bluff, where they 
met with a severe repulse. Colonel Baker, the com- 
mander, was killed, and the Federal loss amounted to 
1,000 men. 

The war was not confined to the east, but had be- 
gun as well in the west. Missouri, like Maryland, al- 
though it was a slave ctate and contained many sym- 



LINCOLN ' 5 A DM INI S TRA TION. 44 1 

pathizers with the southern cause, including the gov- 
ernor, was yet divided in sentiment. It never be- 
came in reality a part of the Confederacy, though that 
government pretended to recognize it as such. It was 
a battle-ground, however, for several sharp conflicts. 
Active measures were begun by the Confederates un- 
der the military leadership of General Sterling Price, 
and several engagements occurred. 

About the middle of June General Lyon gained a 
victory over the Confederates at Boonville. In the 
early part of the next month General Franz Sigel, at 
the head of a Federal force, had a sharp engagement 
at Carthage. He inflicted a severe loss on the Confed- 
erates and fell back in good order before their supe- 
rior forces. On the loth of August Lyon and Sigel 
attacked, with about 5,000 men, a Confederate force 
four times as great, at Wilson's Creek, near Spring- 
field. The enemy was driven from the field, but Lyon 
fell mortally wounded. The next day the Federal 
army withdrew. 

Price now pushed northward and laid siege to Lex- 
ington, which was garrisoned by less than 3,000 men 
under Colonel Mulligan. A gallant defense was made 
for nine days, but the Federals were at last forced to 
surrender to a force of about 25,000 men. Lexington, 
however, was soon re^'aken by the Federals. Mean- 
while General Fremont had been given command of 
the Union forces in Missouri. He took vigorous 
measures for increasing his army and subduing the 
enemy, and proclaimed martial law in the state. He 
also issued an order freeing the slaves of those who 
were in arms against the United States. The times, 
however, were not ripe for this decided action, which 
was annulled. Fremont was superseded by General 
Hunter, who in turn soon gave place to General Hal- 
leck. 

General Polk, meanwhile, had entered Kentucky 



442 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

with a Confederate force and captured Columbus. 
The Confederates also held Belmont, on the opposite 
side of the Mississippi in Missouri, and commanded 
the river with their batteries. To capture Betmont 
Colonel Ulysses S. Grant was sent with 3,000 Illinois 
troops. He attacked the Confederates on the 7th of 
November and gained the day. But the Confederate 
batteries at Columbus made his position untenable. 
Polk sent re-enforcements across the river and Grant 
fought his way back to his boats with a severe loss, 
though he had inflicted a greater loss on the enemy. 

In the summer of this year an expedition of land and 
naval forces, under General Butler and Commodore 
Stringham, was sent to capture the forts at Hatteras 
Inlet. After a two-days' bombardment the Federals 
succeeded in their attempt on the 29th of August. 
On the 7th of November another combined expedi- 
tion, under Commodore Dupont and General Thomas 
W. Sherman, attacked and captured the forts that 
commanded the entrance to Port Royal Sound, on 
the coast of South Carolina. The blockade of south- 
ern ports was enforced vigorously, and so successfully 
that it was difficult for a Confederate .vessel to enter 
or leave port. 

Many daring blockade-runners, however, succeeded 
in eluding the vigilance of the- United States vessels. 
On one of these sailed James M. Mason and John 
Slidell, who were sent by the Confederate govern- 
ment as embassadors to France and England. These 
governments had already proclaimed their neutrality 
and had recognized the Confederates as belligerents, 
not as insurgents. Mason and Slidell left Havana on 
the British mail-steamer T?-e?if. On November 8th 
this vessel was stopped by the United States steamer 
Sa?i Jacinto^ Captain Wilkes. Mason and Slidell were 
taken off and conveyed to Boston, where they were 
imprisoned in Fort Warren. 



LINCOLN ' S A D MINIS TRA TION. 443 

This action of Wilkes' met with hearty approval in 
the north, and the government was at first disposed 
to take the same view. But Lincoln and Seward saw 
the absurdity of maintaining as a right what we had 
taken up arms in 1812 to oppose as violating the laws 
of nations regarding neutral vessels. England de- 
manded a reparation for the insult to her flag and 
commenced preparations for hostilities. It was a 
brilliant stroke of diplomacy that the administration 
achieved in disavowing the act of Wilkes and in put- 
ting Mason and Slidell on a British vessel to proceed 
to Europe. The immemorial doctrine of the United 
States as to neutral vessels was adhered to, Great 
Britain herself was now committed to the same posi- 
tion, a foreign war was prevented, and the hopes of 
the Confede-rates for such an outcome of the difficulty 
were dashed to the ground. 



444 HI ST OR V OF THE UNITED ST A TES. 



CHAPTER LVIII. 

Lincoln's administration — continued — the civil 
v/AR — 1862. 

Events in the west — -Fort Henry captured — Grant and Foote lake 
Fort Donelson — Shiloh — Pea Ridge — Island Number Ten and 
Mempliis captured — Farragut and Butler on the lower Missis- 
sippi — The fleet runs past the forts — New Orleans occupied — ■ 
The Confederate raid into Kentucky — They are checked and 
driven out — luka Springs — Corinth — Grant's advance toward 
Vicksburg delayed — Sherman repulsed at Chickasaw Bayou — 
The battle of Murfreesboro — Events on the Atlantic coast — 
Savannah blockaded — The Alerri/ziac and the Monitor — Banks 
and Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley — McClellan com- 
mences his peninsular campaign — The Federals capture Nor- 
folk — The battle of Fair Oaks, or Seven Pines — The Seven 
Days' battle — The peninsular campaign abandoned — Cedar 
Mountain — Pope's campaign in Virginia — Lee crosses the Po- 
tomac — South Mountain — Antietam — Lee retreats — Stuart's 
raid — McClellan slowly follows Lee — He is superseded by 
Burnside — Fredericksburg — Defeat of the Federals — The war 
has assumed vast proportions. 

The campaigns of 1862 opened in the west. On 
the 9th of January Colonel Garfield fell upon the 
Confederates on the Big Sandy River, in the eastern 
part of Kentucky, and vanquished them. On the 
19th of the month a severe engagement occurred at 
Mill Spring, in the same region, and the Federals, 
under General Thomas, gained a victory over the 
enemy, under Crittenden and ZoUicoffer. The latter 
was killed. 

General Halleck had planned tne capture of Fort 
Henry, commanding the Tennessee River, and Fort 



LINCOLN ' S A D MINIS TRA TION. 44^ 

Donelson, commanding the Cumberland. Commo- 
dore Foote was sent up the former stream in Febru- 
ary with a number of gun-boats, and he forced the 
evacuation of Fort Henry by the Confederates before 
General Grant had time to co-operate with him. The 
gun-boats now dropped down the Tennessee and 
ascended the Cumberland to Fort Donelson. Grant, 
with 30,000 men, assisted by the fleet, laid siege to 
that post, which was strongly fortified and garrisoned 
by 10,000 Confederates under General Floyd (who 
had been Secretary of War under Buchanan) and 
Generals Pillow and Buckner. 

On the 14th of February the gun-boats were driven 
back temporarily by a heavy fire. The next day a 
fierce sally was made by the garrison, but they were 
repulsed with severe loss. Floyd and Pillow, fearing 
capture, fled, and left Buckner in command. That 
general saw that capitulation was inevitable. He 
asked what terms of surrender would be granted, to » 
which Grant replied: " Only an unconditional surren- 
der can be accepted. I propose to move immediately 
upon your works," Buckner yielded. Besides the gar- 
rison and numerous arms, a large quantity of stores 
fell into the hands of the Federals. This important 
success secured Union supremacy in Missouri, Ken- 
tucky, and northern Tennessee, and Columbus, the 
capital of the latter state, was evacuated by the Con- 
federates. 

Grant now ascended the Tennessee to Pittsburg 
Landing, and a camp was formed at Shiloh Church, 
near by. On the morning of Sunday, the 6th of April, 
Generals Albert S. Johnston and Beauregard led the 
Confederates in a sudden attack on Grant's army. 
The battle was vigorously contested all day, and at 
evening the Nationals had been driven back to the 
Tennessee, where they made a stand, supported by the 
gun-boats. During the night Buell and Wallace ar- 



446 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. ' 

rived with re-enforcements, and in the morning Grant 
renewed the conflict, drove the Confederates back, and 
recovered all the ground that had been lost. John- 
ston had been mortally wounded in the first day's 
battle, and Beauregard, now in command, retreated 
toward Corinth. The battle was the severest which 
had yet been fought on American soil. Nearly 100,000 
men had been engaged. The Confederate loss was 
over 10,000 and the Union loss about 2,000 greater. 

In the early part of the year a Federal force had 
entered the northwestern part of Arkansas and occu- 
pied Pea Ridge. On the 7th of March they were at- 
tacked by the Confederates, whom they succeeded in 
defeating after a two-days' battle, though with the 
balance of losses on the Union side. In the meantime 
General Pope had advanced against the Confederate 
post at New Madrid, in southeastern Missouri. He 
opened a heavy fire on the enemy and forced them to 
retire to Island Number Ten, in the river. Pope now 
co-operated with Commodore Foote in a bombard- 
ment of this strongly fortified island. After a vigor- 
ous cannonade for three weeks the Confederates, 
finding their escape cut off by Pope, surrendered on 
the 7th of April. Two months later the city of 
Memphis was captured by Commodore Davis. 

On the lower Mississippi also stirring events had 
taken place. Early in April a powerful armament 
entered that river. Admiral Farragut and General 
Butler commanded the combined naval and land 
forces. Eighty miles below New Orleans were two 
strong forts, Jackson and St. Philip. A vigorous 
bombardment of these fortifications was commenced 
on the i8th of April and continued incessantly for six 
days. But little injury was done, and Farragut un- 
dertook the hazardous work of running past the Con- 
federate batteries. Early in the morning of the 24th 
of the month the squadron was put in motion, the 



LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRA TION. 



447 



obstructions in the river, composed of hulks and logs 
connected by chains, were broken, and under a terrilic 
fire the Union vessels passed the forts. The Confed- 
erate fleet higher up the stream was captured oi 
destroyed, and Farragut proceeded to New Orleans. 
Forts Jackson and St. Philip were taken soon after- 
ward. On the ist of May Butler entered New Orleans, 
where he pursued a vigorous policy that reduced the 
city to the Federal authority. The opening of the 
lower Mississippi and the capture of New Orleans 
was the severest loss which the Confederacy had yet 
sustained. 

In the latter part of September the Confederates 
made an attempt to regain possession of Kentucky. 
Two divisions, under General E. Kirby Smith and 
General Bragg, entered the state. Smith routed the 
Federals at Richmond, Kentucky, on the 30th of Au- 
gust, and pushing on captured Lexington. His ad- 
vance on Cincinnati was checked by the energy of 
General Wallace. Smith now turned back and capt- 
ured Frankfort. Meanwhile Bragg had been advanc- 
ing. About the middle of September he captured a 
Union force at Mumfordsville, and then pushed on 
toward Louisville, joining Smith's army at Frankfort. 
Now General Buell, who had received re-enforce- 
ments, turned on the Confederates and pressed them 
back to Perryville, where a hard battle was fought on 
October 8th. The losses were about equal, but the 
marauding force of the Confederates retired from 
Kentucky. 

On the 19th of September Rosecrans, with an in- 
ferior force, attacked the Confederates, under Gen- 
eral Price, near Iilka Springs, in the northeastern cor- 
ner of Mississippi. A severe battle resulted in a victory 
for the Federals. General Grant, who commanded 
the Union forces in this region, now turned toward 
the Mississippi, and Rosecrans was left with 20,000 



448 HISTOR V OF THE UNITED STA TES. 

men at Corinth. There he was attacked by Van 
Dorn and Price. The battle raged fiercely on the 3d 
and 4ih of October, and the Confederates were re- 
pulsed with a severe loss. The Federals also suffered 
heavily. 

Grant's object was to co-operate with General 
William Tecumseh Sherman, then at Memphis, in 
the capture of Vicksburg. But Van Dorn succeeded 
in preventing Grant's advance by cutting off his line 
of supplies at Holly Springs on the 20th of December. 
Sherman, ignorant of this event, descended the Mis- 
sissippi and landed a short distance above Vicksburg, 
but in an attack on the Confederates at Chickasaw 
Bayou on the 29th of December he was repulsed with 
heavy loss. 

In the meantime Rosecrans had been placed in 
command of the Army of the Cumberland, with his 
headquarters at Nashville. Bragg had concentrated 
the Confederate forces at Murfreesboro. Rosecrans 
advanced, and came on the Confederates at Stone 
River, near the town. Preparations were made for 
battle, and the fierce struggle commenced on the 
morning of December 31st. The battle raged all 
day. The Federals were pressed back and lost heav- 
ily, their complete defeat being prevented by a dar- 
ing stand taken by General Hazen with 1,300 men. 
During the night a council of war was held in the 
Union camp, and on New Year's morning Bragg was 
confronted by a Vv^ell-arranged line of battle. He was 
forced to act cautiously, and the day was spent in 
heavy skirmishing. On the 2d of January, 1863, the 
conflict was renewed with energy. The day was final- 
ly saved for the Federals by a fierce charge, and that 
night Bragg withdrew his forces. The forces engaged 
and the losses inflicted were differently stated by each 
side, but it is probable that the Federal army num- 
bered over 40,000 and the Confederate about 50,000 



LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRA TION, 

The losses of the latter were over 10,000 and 
former nearly 12,000. 

Such were the cam- 
paigns in the west during 
the year 1862. But in Vir- 
ginia and along the At- 
lantic coast important 
events had also occurred. 
In the beginning of the 
year a Federal armament 
of land and naval forces 
had been fitted out under 
General Burnside and 
Commodore G o 1 d s b o r- 
ough. Early in Febru- 
ary the fleet arrived at 
Roanoke Island, which 
was fortified by several 
batteries, and the forti- 
fications were carried one 
after another. Nev/bern 
was the next object of 
attack. The soldiers were 
landed and the city was 
captured after a severe 
battle on the 14th of 
March. Beaufort was 
then occupied, and on 
the 25th of April Fort 
Macon, which command- 
ed the harbor, was taken. 
In the meantime Fort Pu- 
laski, at the mouth of 
the Savannah River, fur- 
ther south, was captured on the 
General Gillmore. This victory 



449 

of the 




nth of April by 
enabled a close 



blockade to be maintained on the port of Savannah. 



450 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

After the capture of the Norfolk navy-yard in the 
previous year the Confederates had raised one of the 
sunken vessels, named the Merrimac. They had re- 
christened her the Virginia, had converted her into a 
dangerous ram with an iron prow, and had given her 
sloping decks heavily plated with railroad iron. On 
the 8th of March the Virginia attacked the Federal 
fleet in Hampton Roads, near Fortress Monroe. The 
shot that were rained on the ram glanced harmlessly 
from her inclined decks, and she succeeded in de- 
stroying two frigates, the Congress and Ciunherland. 
The expected renewal of the attack the next morning 
was awaited with dread. But during the night a new 
vessel appeared on the scene. It was a strange craft, 
with a deck almost level with the water, surmounted 
amidships by a heavy iron revolving turret carrying 
two guns. The Monitor was the invention of Cap- 
tain John Ericsson, of New York. When the Virginia 
returned on the morning of March 9th she was con- 
fronted by this curious craft, much smaller than her- 
self. A furious naval duel commenced, which result- 
ed in the withdrawal of the Virginia^ badly damaged, 
to Norfolk. Lieutenant Worden, who commanded 
the Monitory was severely though not permanently in- 
jured. The result of this famous battle was to 
change entirely the course of naval construction 
throughout the world. 

In the early part of the year General Banks had 
been sent into the Shenandoah Valley. General 
" Stonewall " Jackson was dispatched with 20,000 
Confederates to oppose him, and in the latter part of 
May he destroyed a Union force at Front Royal. 
Banks was forced to retire to the Potomac, with Jack- 
son following. But now news came that Fremont 
was advancing to cut off the Confederate retreat. 
Jackson retired at once and was not overtaken by 
Fremont till he reached Cross Keys. There, on the 



LINCOLN ' S A D MINIS TRA TION, 4^ j 

7th of June, the Federals attacked a part of the Con- 
federate army, under Ewell, in a severe but indecis- 
ive battle. Jackson escaped across the South Fork 
of the Shenandoah after repulsing the Nationals at 
Port Republic. 

In March the Army of the Potomac, numbering 
200,000 men, had set out with the purpose of captur- 
ing Richmond. McClellan had failed to act with 
sufficient energy to please the President and the im- 
patient North, and he was relieved of his office of 
commander-in-chief and given only the command of 
the Army of the Potomac. After advancing as far as 
Manassas Junction he changed his base to Fortress 
Monroe and transported thither a large part of his 
force. In the early part of April he began his march 
up the peninsula lying between the James and York 
rivers. At Yorktown General Magruder, with about 
11,000 Confederates, successfully delayed for a 
month the Federal forces, which soon numbered 
100,000. But Yorktown was besieged, and by the 
4th of May the Confederates withdrew. They made 
a stand at Williamsburg but were defeated. By the 
20th of May the Nationals had reached the Chicka- 
hominy. 

Meanwhile General Wool, in command of Fortress 
Monroe, sent a force against Norfolk, On the loth 
of May he captured the town. The Confederates, as 
they retired, blew up the Virginia. The other vessels 
were driven up the James River by the Federal gun- 
boats. Part of McClellan's army had crossed the 
Chickahominy and was within a few miles of Rich- 
mond, which was defended by Johnston, A fierce bat- 
tle commenced at Fair Oaks, or Seven Pines, on the 
3 ist of May and was renewed next day, when the Union 
troops were victorious, with a loss of 5,700. The Con- 
federate loss was equal or greater. Amongthewounded 
of the latter was General Joseph E, Johnston, whose 



452 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

command was soon given to General Robert E. Lee. 
Little was done after this till the latter part of June. 
On the 25 th of that month began the famous Seven 
Days' fighting. On the second day occurred the battle 
of Mechanicsville (called also the battle of Beaver 
Dam Creek), in which the Confederates were defeated 
with severe loss. The next day saw the hard but in- 
decisive battle of Gaines' Mill (called also the battle 
of Cold Harbor, or the Chickahominy). The aSth 
was the quietest day of the seven. McClellan was 
now changing his base of supplies from White House, 
on the Pamunkey, to the James. His rear-guard was 
attacked on the 29th at Savage's Station, but repulsed 
the Confederates. On the 30th a furious battle was 
fought at Frazier's Farm, but with no decided result. 
The Federals had now reached Malvern Hills, close 
to the James River, where they occupied a strong po- 
sition. On the ist of July Lee attempted to carry the 
place by storm. For hours the battle raged furiously, 
and it was not until darkness closed around the scene 
that the Confederate troops were withdrawn, broken 
and exhausted. 

So ended the Seven Days' battle. Lee withdrew to 
Richmond, and McClellan, instead of following up 
his victory, retired to Harrison's Landing, on the 
James. The Union losses during this period aggre* 
gated over 15,000 men in killed, wounded, and pris- 
oners. The Confederate loss was even greater, but 
Richmond had been saved. The Federal army was 
soon withdrawn from the peninsula. 

Lee was now satisfied that the Confederate capital 
was safe for the present, and he undertook to capture 
Washington, and, if possible, push on into Maryland. 
In his way was the Army of Virginia, under General 
Pope, numbering between 40,000 and 50,000 men. On 
August 9th Lee's advance-guard, under Jackson, at- 
tacked a Federal force commanded by Banks at Cedar 



LINCOLN ' S A D MINIS TRA TION. 4^3 

Mountain. In one of the fiercest battles of the war 
the Federals were driven back until the enemy was 
checked by Union re-enforcements. The Confeder- 
ate loss was about 1,300 and the National loss about 
1,900. 

Jackson, with a portion of Lee's army, now made a 
flank movement and captured Manassas Junction, in 
Pope's rear. Pope fell on Jackson with the expecta- 
tion of routing him before Lee could send aid. On 
the 29th and 30th of August severe battles were 
fought near Manassas Junction and the old Bull Run 
battle-field. On the ist of September another en- 
gagement occurred at Chantilly, in which the Union 
generals Kearney and Stevens were killed. Pope had 
the worst of these engagements, and withdrew his 
broken army to the fortifications around Washington. 
He soon requested to be transferred to the west, and 
the Army of Virginia was merged in the Army of the 
Potomac under McClellan, 

Lee now pushed forward, crossed the Potomac into 
Maryland, and by the loth of September had capt- 
ured Frederick and Hagerstown. On the 14th of the 
month a battle occurred at South Mountain, in which 
the Confederates were defeated. The next day Stone- 
wall Jackson received the surrender of Harper's Ferry, 
with over 11,000 prisoners. Lee took a strong posi- 
tion on Antietam Creek, near Sharpsburg, on the 
15th. McClellan had followed him, and sharp skir- 
mishing occurred. The i6th was spent by both com- 
manders in arranging their divisions for battle, and 
no general conflict ensued. 

But on the morning of September 17th the battle 
of Antietam commenced in earnest. It was waged 
fiercely but with varying success all day, although the 
advantage lay with the Federals. The next day Mc- 
Clellan dared not risk a defeat, although he was re- 
enforced. Before the 19th dawned Lee had slipped 



454 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

away and had transferred his shattered army to the 
southern side of the Potomac. The forces that took 
part in this battle are variously estimated. Probably 
those actually engaged numbered about 40,000 of 
Lee's men and 57,000 of McClellan's — rather more 
than less. Each side had lost over 12,000 men. Lee's 
invasion of Maryland had proved a costly failure, 
thou'gh, on the other hand, the high hopes of the 
North that his army would be cut to pieces had hot 
been completely satisfied. 

Lee moved slowly up the Shenandoah Valley while 
McClellan delayed crossing the Potomac, although 
ordered to do so by the President. While he was 
making one objection after another, the Confederate 
General Stuart, with 2,000 men, made a raid into 
Maryland and Pennsylvania and returned with slight 
injury. It was not until the last days of October that 
McClellan finally crossed into Virginia. His slow- 
ness in this movement added to the distrust which his 
peninsular campaign had stirred up against him, and 
on the 7th of November he was superseded in com- 
mand by General Burnside. McClellan took no fur- 
ther active part in the war. 

Another advance on Richmond was now projected, 
and Burnside's plan was accepted, of advancing from 
the mouth of Acquia Creek, on the Potomac, through 
Fredericksburg. Before he was ready to cross the 
Rappahannock Lee had time to concentrate his force 
on the southern side of the stream, where he occupied 
a strong position on the heights near Fredericksburg. 
Burnside succeeded in crossing the stream on pon- 
toons, or floating bridges, and gave battle on the 13th 
of December. 

Attempts to break the Confederate lines were made 
at several points with varying success. But the most 
deadly work was at Marye's Hill. Here the Confed- 
erates were posted in a position that was almost im- 



LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION. 



455 



pregnable. Charge after charge was made up the in- 
cline, and the Federals were mowed down like grain 
by a terrible fire. In vain their courage. The night 
descended on a terrible defeat for Burnside. He had 
lost over 12,000 men and the Confederates less than 
6,000. Burnside wished to renew the attack the next 
morning but his officers dissuaded him, and two days 
later the Union forces were withdrawn across the Rap- 
pahannock. 

The disastrous results of the campaigns of 1862 in 
the region of Virginia were disheartening, but along 
the Atlantic coast and the Mississippi and in Ken- 
tuck5^, Tennessee, and northern Mississippi Federal 
arms had gained many successes. The war was now 
being waged on an enormous scale. Hundreds of 
thousands of men were in the field. The North re- 
sponded promptly to the vast demands which were 
made for soldiers. Both sides had long since dis- 
covered that secession was no trifling matter. The 
North and the South alike were fighting in deadly 
earnestness — the one for the preservation of the 
Union, the other to maintain the Confederate govern- 
ment. 



456 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER LIX. 

Lincoln's administration — continued — the civil 
WAR — 1 2>62, — emancipation. 

Emancipation — Arkansas Post — Grant besieges Vicksburg — John- 
ston defeated — Pemberton hemmed in — The city capitulates — 
Port Hudson captured — Hooker succeeds Burnside — The 
Wilderness — The Federals defeated — Stoneman's raid — Lee 
reaches Pennsylvania — Meade succeeds Hooker — The battle 
of Gettysburg — Lee retreats to Virginia — Rosecrans drives 
back Bragg — Chickamauga — Thomas succeeds Rosecrans — 
Grant placed in command — Lookout Mountain — Missionary 
Ridge — Events in eastern Tennessee — In Mississippi and Ar- 
kansas — Cavalry raids — Grierson — Morgan — The Confeder- 
ates capture Galveston — Charleston blockaded by the Na- 
tionals — The Conscription Act — The draft riot in New York — 
West Virginia admitted to the Union — Review of the year. 

The ist of January, 1863, was forever made mem- 
orable in American history by the Emancipation 
Proclamation. We have pointed out before that the 
war was not begun with the purpose of liberating the 
slaves, but the anti-slavery sentiment of the North had 
gained great strength as it came to be seen how close- 
ly connected the slavery question was with the fierce 
war that was raging. The North and the Republican 
party now controlled the actions of Congress and 
slavery had been abolished in the District of Columbia. 
Authority had also been given the President to de- 
clare free those slaves who were owned in districts 
that were in arms against the National government. 
Accordingly Lincoln had given notice on the 22d of 
September, 1862, of his intentions, and on the ist of 
January following he proclaimed the freedom of the 



LINCOLN ' S A DMINIS TRA TION. 457 

slaves in certain designated states and parts of states 
as a " military necessity." It was a carefully medi- 
tated blow to the power of the Confederate govern- 
ment. 

Grant's purpose of capturing Vicksburg had by no 
means been given up because of the checks to him- 
self and Sherman in December. Before active meas- 
ures were recommenced in this direction, however, a 
force which was sent up the Arkansas River in Janu- 
ary captured the important position of Arkansas Post, 
with several thousand prisoners. Meanwhile the 
Union forces were being concentrated north of Vicks- 
burg, Grant perceived that a successful attack on 
the Confederates would best be prosecuted from the 
rear of the town, but his efforts to secure this position 
were not at first promising. The cutting of a canal 
through which the gun-boats might pass with safety 
around the heavy batteries at Vicksburg proved a 
failure, and the Federals, in March, suffered a repulse 
in attempting to get into the rear of the town from 
the north. But now a hazardous experiment turned 
out successfully and solved the problem. On the 
night of the i6th of April Porter's fleet of gun-boats 
and transports succeeded in safely passing Vicks- 
burg, though exposed to a terrible fire. Grant's army 
proceeded down the western bank of the Mississippi, 
crossed under protection from the fleet, overcame the 
Confederates at Port Gibson on the ist of May, and 
obtained their coveted position in the rear of Vicks- 
burg. 

Grant now had his hands full in watching, on the one 
side, General Pemberton in and around Vicksburg, 
and on the other, General Johnston's attempts to reach 
and relieve the city. The forces of the latter were en- 
countered and defeated at Raymond on the 12th of 
May, and two days later the Federals obtained an- 
other victory at Jackson and captured the city. Thus 



458 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Pemberton was cut off from help. On the i6th his 
forces were met and defeated at Champion Hills, and 
the next day they were again vanquished on the Big 
Black River. Pemberton was now confined to Vicks- 
burg, and close siege was laid to that city. 

On the 19th of May, and once more on the 22d, 
unsuccessful attempts to storm the Confederate 
works led to disastrous losses on the Union side. 
An incessant and terrible bombardment by land and 
water was now commenced, which was very destruct- 
ive. Food became exceedingly scarce and the garri- 
son was completely hemmed in, without hope of relief. 
Still Pemberton held out for more than a month. 
Then his situation could no longer^ be endured, and 
on the 4th of July he surrendered. Nearly 30,000 
prisoners, a strongly fortified city, large quantities of 
arms, ammunition, and stores, fell into the hands of 
the National troops. Grant had delivered one of the 
most telling blows of the war against the Confed- 
eracy. 

Meanwhile General Banks, who was now in com- 
mand of the Department of the Gulf, had commenced, 
with the aid of Farragut, the siege of Port Hudson. 
When news came of the capitu'ation of Vicksburg, 
the siege of about six weeks was terminated by a 
Confederate surrender. These two successes threw 
the control of the entire length of the Mississippi into 
the haiids of the Nationals. 

Meanwhile events were occurring in the east that 
led up to the second great event of this year. Burn- 
side was removed from the command of the Army of 
the Potomac after his defeat at Fredericksburg, and 
was succeeded by General Joseph Hooker. That 
general reorganized his forces, and in April crossed 
the Rappahannock and reached Chancellorsville in 
safety. Here, in a rough and wooded region, known 
as the Wilderness, a battle commenced on the 2d of 



LINCOLN-S ADMINISTRA TION. 



459 



May. The chief action of the day was a long flank 
movement by Stonewall Jackson, who with 25,000 men 
swept around on the right wing of the Union army, 
completely surprised the Federals, and cut this part 
of their forces to pieces. This was the last of many 
brilliant exploits in which Jackson engaged. In the 
growing darkness his own men fired by mistake upon 
him and his staff, and Jackson was mortally wounded. 

The next day the fighting was resumed. Sedg- 
wick, with re-enforcements 
from Fredericksburg, was 
checked, and Lee succeed- 
ed in driving Hooker from 
his position. The Federal 
army now lay in a perilous 
situation, from which it 
was only saved by being 
withdrawn across the Rap- 
pahannock on the 5th of 
May. The Federal losses 
amounted to about 17,000 
in killed, wounded, and 
prisoners, and the Confed- 
erates lost about 13,000. 

While this disaster was 
impending a successful 

cavalry raid had been undertaken by the Union cav- 
alry under General Stoneman, who swept around in 
Lee's rear, cut his communications, and got to within 
a few miles of Richmond. Longstreet was also re- 
pulsed from Suffolk, on the Nansemond. These 
movements, however, had little result on the larger 
operations. Lee determined to repeat his former at- 
tempt of crossing the Potomac and carrying the war 
into the north. In June he was in Maryland, where 
he captured Hagerstown. He then passed into 
Pennsylvania, took possession of Chambersburg, and 




GENERAL ROBERT 



460 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. , 

came within a few miles of Harrisburg. General 
Hooker had followed him, and the neighboring states 
promptly responded to the call for additional sol- 
diers. A difference of opinion that arose between 
Hooker and Halleck, then general-in-chief, caused 
the resignation of the former. General George G. 
Meade was given the command of the Army of the 
Potomac. No importantchange of plan, however, was 
made, and both sides soon concentrated their forces at 
Gettysburg for a decisive battle. The success of the 
Federals meant a disastrous repulse of Lee's second 
northern invasion; their defeat meant a conquering 
m.arch into the heart of the north, perhaps as far as 
the Hudson itself. Such was the importance of the 
coming conflict. 

On the 1st of July the battle of Gettysburg com- 
menced with a struggle for the possession of Semi- 
nary Ridge, in which the Federals were driven back. 
During the night the Union troops were concentrated 
in a strong position on a ridge. The left wing rested 
at Round Top, the center at Cemetery Hill, and the 
right at Gulp's Hill. Lee occupied Seminary Ridge, 
across the narrow valley. In the afternoon of the 2d 
the Confederates renewed the battle with an attack 
on General Sickles, at the Federal left. The fight was 
for the possession of Round Top, which was held 
against repeated assaults of the Confederates. Gen- 
eral Hancock, further along the line, was also fiercely 
attacked, as was Howard, on Cemetery Hill, but both 
held their ground firmly. On the right the Confed- 
erates succeeded in gaining a foothold in the position 
that had been held by General Slocum. The result 
of the day's fighting was indecisive, though the Con- 
federates had somewhat the best of it. 

The third and last day cf the battle opened with a 
successful attempt to drive the Confederates from the 
position they had secured on the Union right. Then 



LINCOLN ' S A DMINLS TRA TION. 46 1 

Lee chose Cemetery Hill as the most vulnerable point 
of attack, and directed a fierce cannonade upon it for 
two hours, which was replied to with energy. The 
thunder of more than 200 cannon shook the very 
foundations of the hills. About 3 o'clock there was a 
lull. Then down from Seminary Ridge and across 
the valley poured a long column of Confederates — 
about 18,000 in all — to make a final charge on the 
Union position. A desperate assault, a brave defense, 
a fearful loss of life, and the Confederates were sent 
flying back in confusion. Each army had numbered 
about 75,000 men. The Union loss during the three 
days in killed, wounded, and missing was over 23,000, 
and the Confederate forces were diniinished by over 
30,000 men. 

On the 4th of July Lee commenced his retreat. At 
the Potomac, swollen by rains, he kept Meade in check 
till he could cross into Virginia. So ended the boast- 
ed Confederate invasion of the North. The battle of 
Gettysburg was the crisis of the war, and it was felt 
to be so. It will be remembered that on the 4th of 
July, the day after the close of this battle, Vicksburg 
had fallen before Grant's persistence. The news of 
these two great victories added to the hope and en- 
thusiasm of the North. 

After Lee crossed into Virginia he proceeded up 
the Shenandoah Valley, Meade following on the east- 
ern side of the Blue Ridge. Lee finally succeeded in 
crossing to the same side of the slope, when the Fed- 
eral army took station on the Rappahannock and con- 
fronted him. The Confederates were pushed back 
beyond Culpepper in September, but soon Lee made 
a flank movement which threatened Meade, and both 
armies now began another race for the Potomac. 
Lee, however, soon fell back, and the opposing armies 
at the close of the year lay on the Rappahannock and 
the Rapidan. Several battles and much skirmishing 



462 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

occurred during this campaign, but none of vital im- 
portance. 

We last heard of General Rosecrans at the battle of 
Murfreesboro, which began on the last day of the 
previous year and ended on the 2d of January, 1863, 
with a Federal victory. After that little active work 
was done in this quarter for some months, except sev- 
eral cavalry raids, in one of which Colonel Streight 
with a Union force was captured by General Forrest 
in the early part of May, near Rome, in Georgia. In 
the latter part of June Rosecrans ordered an advance, 
before which General Bragg fell back with the Con- 
federates beyond the limits of Tennessee, and Rose- 
crans took possession of Chattanooga. A few miles 
from that town, on the Chickamauga Creek, the 
armies came into collision on the 19th of September. 
The battle was severe but not decisive. During the 
night Bragg was re-enforced by Longstreet, and the 
conflict was renewed the next day with terrible energy. 
A gap was finally made m the National lines and the 
major part of the Union army was forced back to 
Chattanooga. General Thomas, however, stood firm, 
kept the enemy at bay, and at last withdrew his forces 
in good order. The Union loss was about 19,000; 
the Confederates had gained the victory, though with 
somewhat greater losses. 

Rosecrans was soon transferred to the command of 
the Department of Missouri, and Thomas was given 
his place. Hooker arrived with re-enforcements, and 
in the latter part of October General Grant appeared 
on the scene. The Militar}^ Division of the Missis- 
sippi, embracing the armies and departments of the 
Ohio, Cumberland, and Tennessee, had been placed 
under Grant's command. Bragg had hemmed in the 
Union forces at Chattanooga, and he occupied almost 
impregnable positions on Lookout Mountain and Mis- 
sionary Ridge. 



LINCOLN ' S A DMINIS TRA TION. ^(^^^ 

Hooker was sent across the Tennessee oh the 23d 
of November, and he succeeded in gaining a foothold 
on the southern side of the river. The next morning 
he forced the Confederates out of their rifle-pits on the 
lower slopes, and then made a magnificent charge up 
the steep ascent. A fog hung around the summit of 
the mountain, so that the anxious eyes below could 
not see the dashing bravery and the brilliant success 
of the Federal troops. The " battle above the clouds " 
resulted in the capture of Lookout Mountain. The 
Confederates were forced to retreat to Missionary 
Ridge, on and around which their force was now 
collected. In the meantime Sherman had crossed 
the river above the town and secured a foothold on 
the northern end of Missionary Ridge. 

On the morning of the 25th Sherman advanced 
along the ridge, Hooker crossed the valley and at- 
tacked the Confederate flank, and in the afternoon 
Thomas, with the Union center, was ordered forward. 
Their terrible energy was too much for the Confed- 
erates, who were driven from their position and re- 
treated. The Union losses in these two battles were 
5,616; the Confederate loss amounted to over 10,000. 

While these exciting events were occurring in the 
neighborhood of Chattanooga, General Burnside was 
conducting a campaign in eastern Tennessee. He 
arrived in Knoxville on the ist of September, where 
Longstreet besieged him after the battle of Chicka- 
mauga. On the 29th of November a desperate as- 
sault was made on the National works, which was re- 
pulsed with terrible loss of life to the attacking party. 
Now Sherman was advancing to Burnside's relief, and 
in the first days of December Longstreet raised the 
siege and withdrew. 

The operations of this year in the region of Mis- 
souri and Arkansas were not conducted on a large 
scale. On the 8th of January the Confederates at- 



464 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

tacked Springfield and were repulsed; on the nth 
they were defeated at Hartsville; in April they were 
driven away from Cape Girardeau; in July they were 
repulsed with heavy loss from Helena, Arkansas. In 
Augusta band of "guerrillas," as loosely organized 
bodies of horsemen came to be called, fell upon Law- 
rence, Kansas, and murdered 140 people. General 
Steele occupied Little Rock with National forces on 
the loth of September, and the Confederates, who had 
held that capital, retreated. 

The cavalry had by this time become an important 
branch of the service, both in its organized and well- 
disciplined shapes and in its guerrilla bands. Dur- 
ing Grant's campaign around Vicksburg, Colonel 
Grierson had started from Tennessee, traversed Mis- 
sissippi, and ended his ride of 800 miles at Baton 
Rouge, after doing much damage to the railroads 
and other property of the Confederates. The famous 
raid of the Confederate General John Morgan also 
occurred in this year. Starting from Tennessee in June 
with 3,000 men, he passed through Kentucky, entered 
Indiana, and crossed Ohio nearly to the borders of 
Pennsylvania, where, near New Lisbon, his band was 
finally cut to pieces and himself captured. 

On the first day of January the Confederates se- 
cured possession of the valuable port of Galveston 
by the enterprise of General Marmaduke. In April 
the National fleet, under Admiral Dupont, made a 
disastrous attempt to capture Charleston. In the 
latter part of June the attempt was renewed by Gen- 
eral Gillmore and Admiral Dahlgren. A Federal 
assault on the i8th of July upon Fort Wagner was 
repulsed with heavy loss; but the bombardment was 
continued, and in September the Confederates evac- 
uated the fort and Battery Gregg and withdrew to 
the city. Fort Sumter was seriously damaged, and 
the Nationals were now able to maintain a close 
blockade on the harbor. 



LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRA TION. 465 

The enormous demands which had been made on 
the north for volunteers naturally did not meet with 
such a ready response as during the early part of the 
war, and Congress found it necessary to pass the 
Conscription Act in March, 1863. The President 
soon after ordered a draft of 300,000 men, all able- 
bodied males between the ages of twenty and forty- 
five years being liable for service. This measure was 
bitterly condemned by those in the north who op- 
posed the war, and an attempt to enforce the draft 
in New York caused a serious riot. Commencing on 
July 13th, the mob held possession of the city for 
three days, demolished buildings and killed about 
100 persons, most of whom were negroes. It re- 
quired vigorous action on the part of the military 
forces to subdue the rioters. Four hundred lives and 
$2,000,000 worth of property had been sacrificed dur- 
ing the disturbance. 

West Virginia, which had previously repudiated 
the secession of the rest of Virginia, was admitted as 
a state on the 20th of June, 1863. 

The year closed with a brighter prospect for the 
National arms. The defeat at Chancellorsville had 
been followed by the victory at Gettysburg, the over- 
throw at Chickamauga by the battles of Lookout 
Mountain and Missionary Ridge at Chattanooga. 
Vicksburg and Port Hudson had been captured. 
There were still men enough in the north to fill the 
Federal ranks, but the South w^as straining every 
nerve to keep up her army to the necessary num- 
bers. 



^Ce HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER LX. 

Lincoln's administration — continued — the civil 
WAR — 1864. 

Sherman in Mississippi — Forrest at Fort Pillow — The Red Rival 
expedition — Grant made lieutenant-general — Plan of opera- 
tions — Sherman forces Johnston back to Atlanta — Hood suc- 
ceeds Johnston — The Federals take Atlanta — Hood driven 
from Tennessee — Sherman's march to the sea — Savannah 
taken — Grant and Lee — Battles of the Wilderness and Spott- 
sylvania Court-House — Cold Harbor — Advance on Peters- 
burg — Butler's movements — The siege of Petersburg — Opera- 
tions in the Shenandoah Valley — Early's raid — Sheridan in 
command — Winchester and Fisher's Hill — The battle of Cedar 
Creek — Prosecution of the siege of Petersburg — Farragut at 
Mobile — The port blockaded — The Albemarle blown up — Fort 
Fisher captured — The Confederate privateers — The Alabama 
sunk by the Kearsarge — Lincoln re-elected — Johnson Vice- 
President — Nevada admitted to the Union— The money-order 
system. 

In February, 1864, Sherman, starting from Vicks- 
burg, marched nearly across the state of Mississippi 
to Meridian. In this neighborhood he tore up the 
railroads and destroyed cars, cotton, and corn in 
large quantities. Then, being disappointed in ex- 
pected re-enforcements, he returned to Vicksburg. 
These re-enforcements consisted of a cavalry force sent 
from Memphis, under the command of General Smith. 
Before they could reach Meridian they were met by 
the Confederate cavalry under Forrest and checked. 
Forrest continued northward, taking Union City by 
the way, till he reached Paducah, on the Ohio River. 
Having been repulsed in an attack on the fort at that 



LINCOLN ' S A DM INI S TRA TION. 46 7 

place, he turned back and attacked Fort Pillow, on 
the Mississippi above Memphis. This fort was de- 
fended by less than 600 men, many of whom were 
negroes. Forrest carried the place by storm on the 
1 2th of April, and charges have been made of an in- 
discriminate massacre after the surrender. 

It was in the spring of 1864 that the disastrous Red 
River expedition for the capture of Shreveport, the 
Confederate capital of Louisiana, was undertaken bv 
the Nationals, under the command of General Bankc. 
In March a force from Vicksburg, accompanied by 
a fleet of gun-boats, ascended the Red River. On the 
14th of the month they made a successful assault on 
Fort de Russy, and two days later took possession of 
Alexandria, where Banks' forces from New Orleans 
joined them. 

At Natchitoches the army left the river. On the 
8th of April part of Banks' force was attacked and 
routed at Sabine Cross Roads, near Mansfield. They 
fell back to Pleasant Hill, where the next day a gen- 
eral battle occurred. The Confederates were checked, 
but the National troops withdrew to Alexandria, hav- 
ing lost 5,000 men, besides artillery and supply-trains. 
At Alexandria the fleet had great difficulty in descend- 
ing the river, which was very low, but a dam was con- 
structed which raised the water, and then through a 
sluice the gun-boats floated down, and the whole force 
returned to the Mississippi. The expedition had met 
with such poor success that Banks was replaced bv 
General Canby. 

Congress had already decided that the movements 
of the National forces in all quarters should be under 
the guidance of one mind and will. To effect this re- 
sult the grade of lieutenant-general was revived, to 
which position Grant was appointed by President 
Lincoln. On the 2d of March the Senate confirmed 
the nomination, and on the 8th Grant was commis- 



,^68 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

sioned commander-in-chief of the Union armies. He 
soon took his quarters in the field with the Army of 
the Potomac, commanded by General Meade, his pur- 
pose in this quarter being to drive back Lee and capt- 
ure Richmond. Sherman in the south was to over- 
come Johnston's army and take possession of Atlanta. 
These two grand campaigns were successfully carried 
out and resulted in the termination of the war. 

Sherman, now in command of the Military Division 
of the Mississippi, set out from Chattanooga in the early 
part of May with 100,000 men. General J. E.Johnston 
opposed him with about half that number. By flank 
movements and by threatening Johnston's line of sup- 
plies, the Union general forced him backward from 
one position after another. From Dalton Johnston 
retired to Resaca. Near that place a battle was 
fought on the 15th of May, as a result of which the 
Confederates reti:eated again. Forced from Dallas 
on the 28th, they soon evacuated Altoona Pass. The 
Confederate position on Lost Mountain was taken on 
the 17th of June. On the 27th of this month Sherman 
met with a severe loss in assaulting the Great Kene- 
saw Mountain. Now resorting to flank movements 
once more, Johnston was obliged to retire from his 
position, and on the 3d of July the National troops 
entered Marietta. On the loth of July Johnston's 
retreat had reached the immediate neighborhood of 
Atlanta. 

Now the Confederate government substituted Hood 
for Johnston. The latter had made a good retreat 
before a largely superior force, but a more dashing 
policy was desired. Hood at once endeavored to 
justify the change by making a vigorous attack on 
the Nationals on the 20th of Ju:y. He met with a re- 
pulse in a severe engagement that cost many lives on 
both sides. Two days later, and again on the 28th, he 
made other fierce sallies, only to meet with defeat. In 



LINCOLN • S A DM IN IS TRA TION. 469 

one of these the Union General McPherson was killed. 
Sherman devoted his attention to cutting off Hood's 
supplies, and he finally brought his army into the rear 
of the town. Hood was incautious enough to separate 




GENERAL \V. T. SHERMAN. 



a large detachment from his force to proceed south- 
ward. This body of Confederates was defeated on 
the last day of August at Jonesboro. Sherman was 
now between the two parts of the Confederate army, 
and Hood was forced to evacuate Atlanta. On the 



47 o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

2d of September the National army entered the city. 
It was one of the strongholds of the Confederacy, but 
before Hood left he destroyed the extensive maga- 
zines, machine-shops, depots, and foundries. Sher- 
man's advance had been an almost incessant fight, 
either in pitched battles or severe skirmishes. He 
had lost 30,000 men and the Confederates several 
thousands more. 

Hood now proceeded northward, expecting that 
Sherman would follow and be drawn away from 
Georgia. The Union leader, however, pursued the 
Confederates but a short distance and then returned 
to Atlanta, sending General Thomas to Nashville to 
check Hood's advance. General Schofield, who hin- 
dered Hood's march to Nashville, was attacked on 
November 30th at Franklin, Tennessee. A severe bat- 
tle ensued, in which the Confederates were repulsed 
with a loss fully twice as great as the Federals suf- 
fered. The Union forces were now concentrated at 
Nashville, whither Hood proceeded. He commenced 
a siege, but Thomas fell upon the Confederates on 
the 15th of December, renewed the battle the next 
day, and drove them back with severe loss. Hood's 
army was shattered and retired into Alabama, pursued 
by the victorious Nationals. 

Sherman rested his army a while at Atlanta, and in 
the middle of November commenced his memorable 
march to the sea. A large part of Atlanta was burned, 
and with 60,000 men he set out for the coast, 225 miles 
away. He cut loose from all his communications 
with the north, determined to rely on the country for 
subsistence, and plunged into the heart of Georgia. 
On the loth of December the Federal forces were 
close upon Savannah. On the 13th Fort McAllister, 
south of the city, was stormed and carried. On the 
night of the 20th General Hardee, who commanded 
the Confederate forces in Savannah, evacuated the city 



LINCOLN ' S A D MINIS TEA TION. 4 7 1 

and retired to Charleston. The next day the Union 
army entered the great seaport of Georgia. Their 
month's march through the state had met with little 
resistance, and less than 1,000 men h?.d been lost. 
Large quantities of cotton had been destroyed, the 
country laid waste, the railroads torn up, and the Con- 
federate armies in the east and west completely sep- 
arated from each other. Here ended the march to the 
sea, and here we will leave Sherman at the close of 
1864. 

In the early part of this year the Army of the Po- 
tomac attempted nothing of importance, but at the 
beginning of May Grant, who was now in the field 
with Meade, commenced his march on Richmond. It 
was at about the same time that Sherman moved for- 
ward from Chattanooga. The Army of the Potomac 
in this region numbered about 140,000 men, while 
Lee's Army of Northern Virginia amounted to about 
half as many. Grant pushed at once into the country 
south of the Rappahannock, tangled with thickets and 
woods, which was known as the Wilderness. Lee 
at once attacked him, and on the 5th and 6th of May 
terrible battles were fought, which cost on the two 
sides 25,000 men in killed, wounded, and prisoners, 
but brought no decisive result. Grant now made a 
flank movement toward Spottsylvania Court-House, 
where fighting commenced on the 9th and did not end 
till the 1 2th of the month. Again the carnage was 
terrible, and the Confederates, protected by intrench- 
ments, lost less than the Nationals. From the midst 
of the conflict Grant sent his famous dispatch to 
Washington : ''I propose to fight it out on this line if 
it takes all summer." 

Grant now crossed the Pamunkey and reached Cold 
Harbor, a dozen miles from Richmond. Here several 
attacks were made on the Confederate intrenchments. 
The severest assault occurred on the 3d of June, and 



472 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



resulted in a severe repulse for the Nationals with a 
loss of 7,000 men. The losses on both sides had by 
this time reached a total of 90,000 or 100,000 men, but 

both had received re- 
enforcements, though 
the disparity of num- 
bers on the Confed- 
erate side vi^as even 
greater than at the be- 
ginning of the cam- 
paign. Grant now 
found that a direct 
attack on Richmond 
did not promise suc- 
cess. H e therefore 
changed his base of 
supplies to the James 
River and moved on 
Petersburg. This city 
was situated about 
twenty miles south of 
Richmond, on the oth- 
er side of the James, 
and was an important 
railroad center. The 
attack on Richmond 
soon assumed the 
form of a siege of Pe- 
tersburg. 

While Grant was 
making these move- 
ments General Butler had advanced up the James from 
Fortress Monroe, had captured several Confederate 
posts, and had taken possession, on the 5th of May, of 
Bermuda Hundred, lying at the confluence of the 
James and Appomattox rivers. On the i6th of the 
month his advance toward Petersburg was checked 




GRANT S CAMPAIGN AKOUND RICHMOND. 



LINCOLN ' S A DMLNIS TEA TION, 473 

by General Beauregard, and Butler fell back to Ber- 
muda Hundred. Here Grant joined him a month 
later and the army moved on Petersburg. On the 
i6th and 17th of June some of the outer works were 
carried by the Nationals, though in a few days they 
lost 10,000 men and inflicted a loss of only half that 




GENERAL PHILIP H. SHERIDAN. 



number on the enemy. A siege was the only resource, 
and that was fairly begun on the 19th of June. 

Some stirring events also commenced in May in the 
Shenandoah Valley, whither Grant had sent General 
Sigel. On the 15th of the month the Nationals were 
routed at New Market by Breckinridge. Sigel was 



474 • HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

now succeeded by General Hunter, who defeated the 
Confederates at Piedmont and then advanced against 
Lynchburg, Finding this place too strong to be 
successfully attacked, he crossed into West Virginia. 
Lee soon sent General Early on a raid down the 
Shenandoah, to cross into Maryland and threaten 
Washington, hoping that Grant would thus be 
obliged to raise the siege of Petersburg. Early 
crossed the Potomac in the beginning of July and 
defeated the Nationals, under General Wallace, at 
the Monocacy. But additional troops had by this 
time been thrown into Washington and the capital 
was safe. Early, therefore, soon retired across the 
Potomac with a large booty as the result of his raid. 
General Wright followed the Confederates, and in 
the latter part of July defeated a portion of Early's 
force. But that general turned on the Nationals, 
drove them across the Potomac, and himself invaded 
Pennsylvania, burned Chambersburg, and returned 
with many spoils. 

Grant, in the early part of August, appointed Gen- 
eral Philip H. Sheridan to the command of the forces 
in this region, over 30,000 in number. On the 19th 
of September Sheridan defeated Early at Winchester, 
and again, three days later, at Fisher's Hill. The 
National forces now ravaged the valley, and finally 
took position on Cedar Creek, twenty miles from 
Winchester. Sheridan left them there temporarily 
and went to Washington. During his absence Early, 
who had been re-enforced, fell suddenly on the 
Union camp on the 19th of October, routed them, and 
drove them as far as Middletown. Sheridan, how- 
ever, who was on his way back, heard the firing at 
Winchester, rode rapidly to the front, reorganized 
his forces with a word, r.nd led them back to battle. 
The Confederates were taken unawares, and Sheri- 
dan recovered his lost ground in one of the most 



LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRA TION. 



475 



brilliant exploits of the war. Early's army had been 
cut to pieces. 




Grant, meanwhile, had been prosecuting the siege 
of Petersburg with vigor. On the 30th of July a mine 



476 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 

was successfully exploded under one of the forts, and 
an assault was attempted through the breach thus 
made. But a mistake in the execution of orders 
caused a failure, with the loss of 4,000 men to the Na- 
tionals. On the i8th of August a detachment of 
Federals seized the Weldon Railroad, which they 
destroyed for a distance and held against severe at- 
tacks. In the latter part of September Butler stormed 
and carried Fort Harrison, on the James. On the 
27th of October a severe engagement occurred near 
Hatcher's Run, in which the Nationals were not suc- 
cessful. Grant's army now went into winter-quar- 
ters, and no more important operations were under- 
taken this year. Here we leave them for the present. 

While Grant and Sherman were prosecuting their 
campaigns, some events of importance had taken 
place on the coast of the Confederate States. In 
August Admiral Farragut undertook an attack on 
Mobile. The harbor was defended by Forts Gaines 
and Morgan, by the powerful ram Tennessee, and by 
other vessels. On the 5th of the month Farragut ran 
his fleet past the forts into the harbor, himself lashed 
to the maintop rigging of the Hartford, where he 
could watch and direct the movements of his vessels. 
The forts were passed with little damage, but one 
Federal iron-clad was blown up by a torpedo. Then 
the Tenfiessee bore down on the fleet, and a fierce 
naval combat ensued that secured the surrender of 
the Tennessee and a National victory. On the 7th 
of the month Fort Gaines -capitulated, on the 23d 
Fort Morgan surrendered, and the port of Mobile was 
effectually blockaded. 

On the 27th of October Lieutenant Gushing, with 
a small party of volunteers, performed a daring and 
brilliant exploit. Gushing attacked the formidable 
ram Albemarle in the Roanoke River with a torpedo 
carried in a small steamer. He succeeded in blowing 



LINCOLN ' S A DM IN IS TRA TION. 



477 



up the Confederate vessel, but himself and a single 
companion alone escaped the catastrophe. Albe- 
marle Sound thus was relieved of Confederate con- 
trol, and the town of Plymouth, from which the Na- 
tionals had previously been driven, was recaptured. 

In December a strong squadron, under Admiral 
Porter, and a land-force, under General Butler, pro- 
ceeded against Fort Fisher, which commanded the 
Cape Fear River and the port of Wilmington. A 
terrible bombardment was commenced, but it left 
the fort so far uninjured that an attack by the sol- 
diers was deemed inexpedient, and Butler returned 
to Fortress Monroe 
with his forces. The 
fleet, however, re- 
mained, and in Jan- 
uary of 1865 anoth- 
er land-force, under 
General Terry, was 
sent to the spot. 
Another fierce bom- 
bardment followed, 
and then the land- 
forces carried the fort by storm on January 15 th. 

In the very beginning of the war the Confederate 
government had granted commissions to privateers, 
and much damage was done to northern commerce 
by these cruisers. In the first year of the war the 
Sumter sailed from New Orleans and the Nashville 
from Charleston. The former was finally forced into 
the harbor of Gibraltar, where she had to be sold. 
The latter was sunk by a National vessel in 1863. 
When the blockade grew closer on southern ports 
the cruisers were built or fitted out in England, 
where this violation of neutrality was winked at by 
the British government. From Liverpool sailed the 
Florida^ which captured many northern merchantmen 




SINKING THE ALABAMA. 



478 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

before she was herself taken in a Brazilian harbor. 
The Georgia, the Skena?idoak^ and other vessels built 
in England ravaged the seas, and the Shenandoah con- 
tinued her course till the war closed. 

The most famous of all these cruisers was the 
Alabama. She was built, armed, and manned by the 
British, and often carried the British flag. Com- 
manded by Raphael Semmes, she captured or de- 
stroyed during her career over sixty vessels and 
$io,coo,ooo worth of property. Her last battle was 
fought off the harbor of Cherbourg, France, on the 
19th of June, 1864, with 1\\q Kea7'sarge, commanded by 
Captain Winslow. After a fierce struggle for an 
hour the Alabaina struck her flag, and soon after sunk 
beneath the waves. 

In the fall of this year the Presidential election oc- 
curred, in which the Confederate States of course did 
not participate. Abraham Lincoln was renominated 
for a second term by the Republican party and An- 
drew Johnson, of Tennessee, was the candidate for 
the Vice-Presidency. The Democratic candidates 
were General George B. McClellan and George H. 
Pendleton. McClellan advocated a vigorous prosecu- 
tion of the war, though his party was not enthusiastic, 
as a rule, for its continuance. He secured only the 
votes of New Jersey, Delaware, and Kentucky, and 
Lincoln and Johnson were elected by a tremendous 
majority. On the 3TSt of October a new state, Ne- 
vada, was added to the Union. The discovery of gold 
and silver in this region had led to its rapid develop- 
ment. On the ist of November the money-order sys- 
tem was established in connection with the postal 
service. 

The year 1864 was one of marked success for the 
National cause, and the end of the war was now close 
at hand. 



LINCOLN 'S A DM1 NIS TRA TION. 479 



CHAPTER LXI. 

Lincoln's administration — concluded — close of 
the civil war 1865. 

Sherman moves northward — Columbia and Charleston taken — 
Further events — Johnston again in command of the Confed- 
erates — He surrenders — Raids of Wilson and Stoneman — 
Sheridan at Waynesboro — Five Forks — Petersburg and Rich- 
mond evacuated — Lee's attempts to escape — His surrender — 
End of the war — Jefferson Davis captured — Assassination of 
Lincoln — Death of Booth — Execution of the conspirators — 
Lincoln's burial — Cost of the Civil War in men and money — 
Financial depression — Congressional action — Results of the 



The conclusion of Sherman's and Grant's cam- 
paigns brought the war to a close in the spring of 
1865. We left the former general in Savannah at the 
close of the previous year. About the ist of Febru- 
ary he moved northward, overcame the slight opposi- 
tion that was offered to his advance, and on the 17th 
of the month received the surrender of Columbia, the 
capital of South Carolina. The Confederate soldiers 
before withdrawing had set the city on fire, and a 
large part of it was destroyed. On the same day 
General Hardee, who commanded the Confederates 
at Charleston, knowing that Columbia was destined, 
determined to withdraw. He applied the torch and 
during the night evacuated Charleston. On the 18th 
the National flag again floated over Sumter and the 
other forts in the vicinity, and the Federals from 
James and Morris islands entered the city. By vigor- 
ous efforts the flames were checked, but not before the 



480 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

fire had done much damage and caused the explosion 
of a large quantity of powder at the Northwestern 
Railroad station, which cost the lives of 200 persons. 

Sherman continued his advance into North Caro- 
lina. General Slocum joined him at Winnsboro, the 
Great Pedee was crossed at Cheraw, and on the i ith of 
March Fayetteville was occupied. Johnston was now 
once more in command of the Confederate army, 
which embraced Hardee's force and numbered 40,000 
men. An engagement occurred at Averysborough on 
the i6th of March, which resulted in a Federal victory. 
Three days later a severe battle v/as fought at Ben- 
tonville, where the Nationals held their ground. Dur- 
ing the night they were re-enforced and Johnston 
withdrew. On the 21st Sherman entered Goldsboro. 
Here he was heavily re-enforced by Generals Scho- 
field and Terry. He turned toward Raleigh. On the 
26th of April Johnston, who knew that Lee had al- 
ready succumbed to Grant's resistless campaign and 
that a continuance of the struggle was useless, sur- 
rendered his army at Durham Station. 

Meanwhile General Wilson, with a force of Federal 
cavalry, starting from Eastport, on the Tennessee, had 
captured Selma and Montgomery, in Alabama, and 
Columbus and Macon, in Georgia, had taken numer- 
ous prisoners and cannon, and had done great dam- 
age to Confederate property. General Stoneman also 
had made a successful raid from Knoxville, Tennes- 
see, into the southwestern part of Virginia and thence 
to Salisbury, North Carolina, tearing up scores of 
miles of the railroads and taking many Confederate 
prisoners and pieces of artillery. 

The decisive struggle in Virginia was begun by 
Sheridan. That general moved from his position on 
the Shenandoah, scattered Early's forces at Waynes- 
boro on the 27th of February, and within a month 
joined Grant at Petersburg. In that quarter Grant's 



LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION. 481 

movement by the left provoked a conflict at Five 
Forks on the ist of April, from which the Union 
troops emerged successful. That night a heavy can- 
nonade was opened on Petersburg. The next day 




LEE AND GRANT SIGNING THE TERMS OF SURRENDER. 



some of the works were carried. Resistance was no 
longer of use. Lee telegraphed to Davis, at Rich- 
mond, that the cities must be evacuated. It was done, 
and on the 3d of April Federal troops entered Peters- 
burg and the capital of the Confederate government. 



482 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The only hope now left for Lee was to break through 
the National lines, which were drawing closer and 
closer, and join Johnston's army in North Carolina. 
The troops from Richmond and Petersburg were con- 
centrated and moved westward. Two or three days 
were lost in collecting provisions, for by a mistake in 
the orders the Confederate supply-train had not kept 
with the army. The delay was fatal. Sheridan, 
pressing hard upon Lee, fell upon Ewell's corps near 
Deatonville and captured it. The main body of the 
Confederates, however, kept on and crossed the Ap- 
pomattox. An attempt to seize the Lynchburg rail- 
road was defeated by Sheridan. On. the 7th of April 
Grant proposed that Lee's army be surrendered, but 
the Confederate general was not ready to take the de- 
cisive step. But the hope of retreat was soon cut off 
and no resource was left. In the afternoon of the 
9th of April the two opposing leaders met in the house 
of William McLean, at Appomattox Court-House, and 
Grant received from Lee the surrender of the Army 
of Northern Virginia. By the terms of the surrender 
the officers and men were paroled and were not to 
take up arms again till exchanged. The public prop- 
erty of the Confederates, arms, ammunition, and sup- 
plies, was turned over to the conquerors. 

This was the conclusive act of the war; there were, 
no more important engagements. Johnston's army 
surrendered on April 26th, as we have already nar- 
rated. By the middle of May all the Confederate 
forces east of the Mississippi surrendered, and on the 
26tli of that month those beyond the Mississippi laid 
down their arms. The Civil War was ended. 

The President and Cabinet of the Confederate 
government had retired from Richmond to Danville. 
When the last ray of hope perished Davis fled to 
Georgia, where, on the loth of May, he v/as captured 
near Irwinsville. He was taken to Fortress Monroe, 



LINCOLN ' S A D MINIS TRA TION 483 

where he remained as a prisoner till May, 1867, when 
he was brought to trial on a charge of treason. But 
he was admitted to bail, the trial was never held, and 
he was afterward included in the general amnesty of 
December 25, 1868. Thus the nation showed its de- 
sire that antagonisms aroused by the war should cease 
finally and forever. 

On the 4th of March, 1865, Lincoln had been inau- 
gurated for his second term of office. After the evac- 
uation of Richmond he visited that city and then re- 
turned to Washington. On the night of the 14th of 
April he was seated with his wife in a box at Ford's 
Theater. During the performance an actor, John 
Wilkes Booth, crept into the box, sent a pistol-ball 
crashing through the President's brain, leaped to the 
stage with the cry of '' Sic semper tyrannis f and es- 
caped by a back entrance. Lincoln was borne from 
the theater and lingered till the morning of the 15th, 
when he died. 

An unsuccessful attempt on the life of Secretary 
Seward was made on the same evening when Booth 
tired his fatal shot. The wildest excitement was 
aroused. It was believed that a plot had been formed 
to murder the principal members of the govern- 
ment. The conspirators were hunted down. Booth 
was found in a barn south of Fredericksburg and 
mortally wounded in the attempt to capture him. 
Four others, including Mrs. Mary E. Surratt, who 
were connected — or supposed to be connected — with 
the conspiracy were tried and hung, and others were 
sent to prison. 

The assassination of Lincoln caused the utmost 
alarm and the profoundest sorrow throughout the 
north. It was a tragic ending of life to the man 
whose genius and wisdom had guided the nation 
through the four most turbulent years which this 
country had ever seen. At the very hour of triumph 



484 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



for the cause to which he had devoted his whole soul 
and energy he was stricken down. His remains were 
conveyed to Springfield, Illinois, where a splendid 




monument now marks the last resting-place of a 
noble man. 

The Civil War had assumed enormous proportions 



LIXCOLN'S ADMINISTRA TIOJV. 48^ 

during its progress. The National government had 
called into service 2,600,000 men, of whom about 
1,500,000 were in active service. The Confederate 
armies numbered about 600,000 men in the field. 
Three hundred thousand men on each side had been 
killed, mortally wounded, or had died in camp, hos- 
pital, or prison. Four hundred thousand more Fed- 
erals and Confederates were crippled or disabled for 




TOMB OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN AT SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS. 

life by wounds and disease. The United States thus 
lost 1,000,000 able-bodied men during the conflict. 

The war had also added tremendously to the na- 
tional debt. In June, i860, that debt amounted to 
about $65,000,000; in January, 1866, it had reached 
the vast amount of over $2,800,000,000. The Confed- 
erate debt of $2,000,000,000 was, of course, never paid. 
The expenses of the National government at one time 
reached the large figure of $3,500,000 a day. The ex- 



486 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

tensive destruction of property and loss of labor must 
also be added to the cost of the war. In 1861 the 
finances of the North had sunk to such a low ebb, 
and gold and silver had so advanced in value, that in 
December the banks of New York suspended specie 
payment and those of other cities were soon obliged 
to follow their example. 

To remove these difficulties and meet the enormious 
expenditures Congress adopted several measures. 
One of these authorized the issue of legal-tender 
notes, called greenbacks, to the extent of $150,000,000. 
United States bonds, bearing interest, were also is- 
sued — " five-twenties," to be redeemed in not less than 
five nor more than twenty years, and *' ten-forties," 
whose time of redemption was to be between ten and 
forty years. Internal revenue taxes were levied, and 
increased duties were assessed on imported merchan- 
dise. In February, 1863, an act was passed to estab- 
lish national banks, which should employ the national 
bonds as the foundation for their currency and the 
guarantee of its redemption. Thus the money was 
obtained for carrying on the war and the financial 
distress was in part relieved. 

The result of the war had been two-fold. In the 
first place, it had been conclusively proven by the 
force of arms that the people of the United States 
would never admit the right of a state to secede from 
the Union, that the National government was su- 
preme, and that the country was a nation and not a 
confederation of sovereign states. In the second 
place, the death-blow was given to slavery. The 
Emancipation Proclamation abolished it as a " mili- 
tary necessity " in that part of the country which had 
taken up arms against the national authority, and 
soon an amendment to the Constitution was to abol- 
ish it by law throughout the Union. These results 
had been secured at a frightful expenditure of men 



LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRA TION. 487 

and money. The country was shaken and disturbed 
from end to end. The position of those states which 
had joined the Confederate government was a grave 
problem to statesmen. With the cessation of the bit- 
ter struggle, waged for four long years courageously 
and devotedly on both sides, and with the restoration 
of peace and the attempts to restore quiet and har- 
mony throughout the land, begins the period in our 
history of Reconstruction and Peace. 



Sixth Period. 



Reconstruction and Peace. 



SIXTH PERIOD. 



CHAPTER LXII. 

Johnson's administration — 1865-1869. 

Sketch of Johnson— The Thirteenth Amendment— Amnesty pro- 
claimed — Napoleon's Mexican schemes — Execution of Max- 
imilian — Presidential and Congressional views of reconstruc- 
tion — Johnson and Congress come into conflict — Bitterness of 
the former — The Fourteenth Amendment — Tennessee read- 
mitted to the Union — Reconstruction bills — Nebraska becomes 
a state— Seven southern states readmitted to the Union — Im- 
peachment of President Johnson — H is acquittal — Further proc- 
lamations of amnesty — The Fourteenth Amendment adopt- 
ed—The Atlantic cable — A Bankrupt Act passed — Alaska 
purchased — Grant and Colfax elected. 

The fears which the assassination of Lincoln caused 
throughout the north that the government would be 
thrown into hopeless confusion were happily not re- 
alized. A few hours after Lincoln's death, on the 15th 
of April, 1865, Andrew Johnson took the oath of office 
as President. He was somewhat over fifty-six years 
of age, having been born in North Carolina in Decem- 
ber, 1808. During his youth he removed to Tennes- 
see, where he grew up. He did not know how to 
write and cipher till taught by his young wife, but he 
rapidly developed and became prominent in the af- 
fairs of his state and country. He was elected to the 
House of Representatives, and afterward was sent to 



492 . HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the United States Senate. During the war he had 
been appointed military governor of Tennessee, and 
in the fall of 1864 he was elected by the Republican 
party as Vice-President. He had been in favor of an 
active prosecution of the war, and his expressions of 
opinion when he assumed the Presidency seemed to 
promise a severe policy toward the South. But he 
pursued in the end quite a different course, which ex- 
asperated the North because of its apparent southern 
sympathies. 

Congress in the early part of 1865 had already 
passed the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitu- 
tion prohibiting slavery anywhere within the limits of 
the United States. By the following December the 
requisite number of states had given their assent, and 
the institution of slavery, that had been such an im- 
portant factor in our national history, ceased forever 
in this country. On the 29th of May the President 
issued a Proclamation of Amnesty, by which those 
who had taken up arms against the National govern- 
ment might obtain pardon and renewed citizenship on 
taking an oath of allegiance, except those in certain 
specified classes, who, however, might be pardoned on 
special application to the President. During the sum- 
mer of 1865 the army was disbanded and the soldiers 
returned to peaceful occupations. 

While the Civil War was in progress the French 
emperor Napoleon III. undertook to set up an em- 
pire in Mexico. In 1864 Maximilian, Archduke of 
Austria, was given the crown of Mexico, and a French 
and Austrian army supported his authority. But the 
United States remonstrated at this violation of the 
Monroe Doctrine, a revolution occurred in Mexico, 
the foreign army was withdrawn, and Maximilian, 
now unsupported, was overthrown and finally taken 
prisoner. He was condemned to death by a ccurt- 
martial and shot in June, 1S67. 



JOHNSON 'S ADMINISTRA TION, 



493 



It was not long after Johnson's inauguration be- 
fore a serious rupture commenced between the Presi- 
dent and Congress, which was controlled by a strong 
Republican majority. The President, holding that 
the acts of secession passed by the southern states 
were null and void, and therefore that those states 




ANDREW JOHNSON. 

had never been out of the Union, desired to pursue a 
civil policy of reorganization. Congress, however, 
maintained that although these acts were unconsti- 
tutional, the states which had adopted them had 
ceased to be members of the Union for the time 
being. It therefore advocated a military system of 



494 HISTOR Y OF THE UNITED STA TES. 

reconstruction, and held that the southern states 
must be again admitted to the Union, with such 
guarantees as Congress might deem necessary. 

The President followed out his plan by appointing 
provisional governors in the various southern states. 
On the 9th of May he announced the restoration of 
relations between Virginia and the Federal govern- 
ment. In June "the restrictions on trade with the 
South were removed, and in September another and 
wider proclamation of amnesty was issued. When 
Congress met in December of 1865 it devoted itself 
at once to its own scheme of reorganization. Dur- 
ing the session the Civil Rights Bill was passed, to 
secure the privileges of citizenship to all persons, 
white or colored. In March, 1866, the President 
vetoed the bill, which was promptly passed over his 
veto by a two-thirds vote. 

Johnson in public speeches strongly opposed the 
spirit displayed by Congress, especially on a trip 
which he made with part of his Cabinet and other 
officials to Chicago on the occasion of the dedication 
of a monument to Senator Douglas. While he was 
"swinging around the circle," as it was termed, he 
attempted to secure the indorsement of his policy by 
the people. His speeches were exceedingly bitter, and 
even went the length of declaring that the position 
assumed by Congress was a new rebellion. 

Congress had pursued its own course, and submit- 
ted to the states for ratification the Fourteenth 
Amendment to the Constitution, providing among 
other things for the equal rights of all citizens, white 
or black. Tennessee, having given its assent to this 
measure, was readmitted to the Union in July, 1866. 
When Congress commenced its next session in De- 
cember, 1866, it continued its work. Bills were 
passed providing that no state should be read- 
mitted except on ratifying the Fourteenth Amend- 



JOHNSON'S ADMINISTRA TION. 495 

ment ; that the territory of Nebraska should be ad- 
mitted as a state on the same condition and _ on 
granting equal suffrage to all citizens; that a similar 
extension of the right of suffrage should be made in the 
District of Columbia; and that the South should be 
divided into five districts under military governors 
to be appointed by the President. Johnson vetoed 
all of these bills, but they were paesed over his veto. 
On the ist of March, 1867, Nebraska became the 
thirty-seventh state of the Union. 

Johnson appointed the military governors for the 
south, but after consultation with Attorney-General 
Stanbery, who declared the act unconstitutional, he 
issued orders to the governors which, in large meas- 
ure, nullified the act of Congress. That body, how- 
ever, afterward passed over the President's veto an 
act declaring the meaning of the previous one, and 
despite continued obstructions its work went on. 
In June and July of the next year, 1868, North Caro- 
lina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, 
Louisiana, and Arkansas were readmitted to the 
Union. . 

The course of the President finally led to his im- 
peachment. As far back as January, 1867, a move- 
ment with this purpose in view had been commenced 
in the House of Representatives. In the latter part 
of that year the feeling against him was aggravated 
by his removal of Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of 
War, and the appointment of General Grant in his 
place. The Senate refused to support the change, and 
Stanton was reinstated. In February, 1S68, Johnson 
again removed Stanton and appointed in his place 
Lorenzo Thomas, the Adjutant-General. Stanton re- 
fused to vacate the office. The House of Representa- 
tives, believing that Johnson had violated the pro- 
visions of law, resolved the very next day that the 
President " be impeached of high crimes and misde- 



496 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

meanors." On the 3d of March the House decided 
finally on the charges that were to be brought against 
the President. These were, in brief, that he had un- 
lawfully removed Stanton ; that he had declared that 
the Thirty-ninth Congress was not a legally consti- 
tuted body; and that he had failed to properly execute 
its acts. The articles of impeachment were at once 
submitted to the Senate, before which body, presided 
over by Chief Justice Chase, the trial began on March 
23d. The proceedings continued for two months, and 
on the 26th of May Johnson was acquitted by one 
vote. A two-thirds majority was necessary to con- 
vict, and the vote stood 35 to 19. 

Johnson issued another proclamation of amnesty 
on the 4th of July, 1868, and finally, on December 25th 
of that year, he pardoned all who had participated in 
the Civil War against the government. In July, 1868, 
it was announced that the Fourteenth Amendment 
had been ratified by the necessary number of states, 
and had therefore become a part of the Constitution. 

In 1866 Cyrus Field, of New York, succeeded in 
laying another Atlantic cable in place of the one laid 
in 1858, a defect in which had soon prevented its use. 
This new cable was laid by the immense steamship 
Great Easter 71, In 1867 a Bankrupt Act was passed 
by Congress. In the same year the territory of the 
United States was increased to the extent of 580,000 
square miles, more than the entire area of the thirteen 
original states, by the purchase of Alaska from Russia. 
The price paid was $7,200,000. The region is chiefly 
valuable for its fisheries, its forests, and its furs. 

In the fall of 1868 the national election occurred. 
The Democratic nominees were Horatio Seymour, of 
New York, and Francis P. Blair, of Missouri. The 
Republican party put forward General Ulysses S. 
Grant, of Illinois, and Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana. 
The campaign was fought chiefly on the issues grow- 



JOHNSON'S ADMINISTRATION. ^gy 

ing out of the war, and the Republican party in its 
platform upheld its action in Congress. Grant and 
Colfax were elected by a large majority of the elec- 
toral college, though the popular vote was more even- 
ly divided. 



498 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER LXIII. 

grant's administration — 1 869-1 87 7. 

Sketch of Grant — The Union Pacific Railroad completed — " Black 
Friday" — The Fifteenth Amendment adopted — Remaining 
southern states readmitted to the Union — The ninth census — 
The Hayti commission — The Virginius — Settlement of the 
"Alabama Claims" by arbitration — End of the northwestern 
boundary question — Fires in Chicago and Boston — Grant re- 
elected — Wilson Vice-President — Death of Greeley — Trouble 
with the Modoc Indians — The Credit Mobilier scandal — The 
panic of 1873 — Difficulty with the Sioux Indians — The Custer 
massacre — Admission of Colorado to the Union — The Cen- 
tennial Exposition — Deaths of prominent men — The Presiden- 
tial campaign — A dispute as to the result — A commission ap- 
pointed — Hayes and Wheeler declared elected. 

Ulysses S. Grant was born at Point Pleasant, Ohio, 
on the 27th of April, 1822. When inaugurated, on the 
4th of March, 1869, he was therefore forty-seven years 
of age. He was graduated from the military acade- 
my at West Point in 1843, and served with honor in 
the Mexican War. He afterward resigned his com- 
mission in the army and retired to private life. The 
outbreak of the Civil War found him at Galena, Illi- 
nois, engaged with his father in the leather business. 
He at once took an active part in the conflict and rose 
rapidly in rank till he reached the highest possible 
step, and was commissioned lieutenant-general in 
1864. His actions during the war and the foremost 
position he occupied in bringing it to a close have 
already been described. 

In the first year of the new administration the 



GRA NT'S A DM IN IS TRA TION, 



499 



great work of connecting the Atlantic and Pacific 
coasts of tlie country by railroad was accomplished. 
On the loth of May, 1869, the last tie was laid and 
the last spike driven at Ogden, Utah, and the Union 
Pacific Railroad was completed. 

In the fall of the same year a disastrous panic 




ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

occurred, brought about by the proceedings of cer- 
tain speculators in the value of gold. They secured 
large quantities of the precious coin, and then 
managed to force the price up to 160 cents on the 
dollar. On the 24th of September, afterward known 
as *' Black Friday," the Secretary of the Treasury, 



500 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



George S. Boutwell, ordered the sale of $4,000,000 
from the sub-treasury. The "corner" of the specu- 
lators was broken and many fortunes were lost in the 
crash that followed. 

Before the expiration of Johnson's term of office Con- 
gress had passed the Fifteenth Amendment to the Con- 
titution, providing that '' the right of citizens of the 
United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged 
by the United States, or by any state, on account of 
race, color, or previous condition of servitude." This 
amendment received the sanction of the requisite 
number of states, and on the 30th of March, 1870, was 
proclaimed by the President as part of the Constitu- 
tion. In the same year the work of reconstruction 
was completed by the readmission into the Union of 
Virginia, Mississippi, and, on the 30th of March, 
Texas. Their representatives once more took their 
seats in Congress, and the nation of thirty-eight states 
was again complete. 

The census of 1870 showed that the nation had 
grown wonderfully despite the ravages of civil war. 
Ten years before the population had been nearly 
31,500,000; now it was over 38,500,000. The greater 
rate of increase in the west had brought the center of 
population to a spot about fifty miles east of Cincin- 
nati. 

In 187 1 a commission was appointed by the Presi- 
dent to visit Hayti and make inquiries as to the ad- 
visability of annexing that island to the United 
States. They reported favorably on the plan of an- 
nexation, which also had the President's sanction, 
but Congress rejected the measure. In 1873 ^ vessel 
named the Virginins was seized by the Spanish 
authorities on the suspicion of carrying munitions of 
war to insurgents in Cuba. Our government opened 
a vigorous correspondence and the vessel was finally 
surrendered. 



GRANTS ADMINISTRA TION. 



501 



The Confederate cruisers built and equipped in 
England during the Civil War had done an immense 
amount of damage to the property of United States 
citizens. The English government in allowing 
such preparations against a friendly nation within 
its jurisdiction had violated international law, and 
the United States claimed a large recompense for the 
injuries received. The greater part of the damage 
had been caused by the Alabama, and hence these 
demands were called the " Alabama Claims." For 
a settlement of the difficulty commissioners of each 
nation met in Washington in 1871, and agreed to 
submit the claims to a tribunal of arbitration com- 
posed of men appointed by the two countries con- 
cerned and of others appointed by friendly nations. 
This court met at Geneva, Switzerland, and on the 
14th of September, 1872, it was decided that Great 
Britain should pay to our government $15,500,000, 
which was done within a year. 

Between England and the United States there was 
still an unsettled question growing out of the treaty 
of 1846 concerning the precise boundary-line of the 
two nations in the channel separating Vancouver's 
Island from the main-land. The dispute was referred 
to William I., Emperor of Germany, who decided in 
favor of the United States. 

In October, 187 1, one of the most extensive fires 
recorded in history broke out in Chicago, and before 
it ceased swept over three and one-third miles of the 
city, caused the loss of 200 lives, and destroyed prop- 
erty to the value of about $200,000,000. A year later, 
in November, 1872, Boston was also visited by a great 
conflagration, which swept over sixty-five acres of 
ground and destroyed property to the value of $80,- 
000,000. 

The election which occurred in the fall of 1872 was 
one of intense excitement. On its record during the 



202 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Civil War and in the work of reconstructing the 
Union the Republican party asked the suffrages of 
the people and renominated Grant as its standard- 
bearer, with Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts, for 
Vice-President. The " Liberal Republicans " and 
Democrats, dissatisfied with the policy of the oppos- 
ing party, put forward for the office of President 
Horace Greeley, the distinguished editor of the New 
York Tribune^ and filled the second place on the ticket 
with the name of B. Gratz Brown, of Missouri, The 
Republican candidates were elected by a large major- 
ity, and Greeley died within a month after the election. 
Grant and Wilson took the oath of office on the 4th 
of March, 1873. 

Meanwhile trouble arose with the Modoc Indians in 
Oregon. Captain Jack's band refused to go upon a 
reservation which the government had designated. 
Troops were sent against them in the fall of 1872, but 
they retreated to the volcanic region known as the 
Lava Beds and could not be conquered. A peace 
conference held with them in April, 1873, was broken 
up by their treacherous murder of General Canby and 
Dr. Thomas. About the ist of June, however. Gen- 
eral Davis forced them to surrender and Captain Jack 
and others were executed. 

About the time when Grant's second term com- 
menced a great official scandal occurred.. A joint 
stock company had been organized in 1863, under the 
title of the Credit Mobilier of America, for the pur- 
pose of aiding in the construction of public works. Its 
charter was purchased in 1867 by a company inter- 
ested in the construction of a Pacific railroad, and the 
capital v/as increased to $3,750,000. The stock rose 
in value and large dividends were paid. In 1872 a 
lawsuit brought out the fact that several members of 
Congress and the Vice-President himself owned or 
had owned some of the stock. As its value depended 



GRA NT'S A D MINIS TRA TION. 503 

largely on Congressional action, the country was 
shocked to think that the votes of its representatives 
might have been purchased. A Congressional investi- 
gation developed several cases of corruption. 

Meanwhile a charter and large subsidies had been 
granted by Congress for the construction of a North- 
ern Pacific railroad from Lake Superior westward. 
The prospect of future subsidies was destroyed by 
the Credit Mobilier scandal, and the stock of the 
Northern Pacific fell to a low point. This caused 
■ the failure of the banking-house of Jay Cooke and 
Company, of Philadelphia. Other failures followed, 
and the fall of 1873 witnessed another severe panic. 
The fluctuation in the amount and value of the na- 
tional currency had not a little to do with this dis- 
aster. 

In the last year of Grant's administration trouble 
arose with the Sioux Indians in the Black Hills re- 
gion, on the borders of Montana and Wyoming. The 
invasion of their reservation by gold-hunters gave the 
Indians an excuse for committing depredations. The 
government sent a large force of regulars against 
them, under the lead of Generals Terry, Crook, Cus- 
ter, and Reno. On the 25th of June, 1876, the two 
latter attacked at different points a large Indian 
village, situated on the Little Horn River. General 
Custer was killed, with 261 men of the Seventh Cav- 
alry, and fifty-two were wounded. General Reno 
held his ground till re-enforcements saved him. Ad- 
ditional troops were now sent to the spot, the Indi- 
ans were defeated in a number of engagements, and 
finally, in the beginning of the next year, 1877, the 
Indian chief Sitting Bull and some of his followers 
escaped into Canada. 

The year 1876 was the hundredth anniversary of 
our independence. It was marked by the sad disaster 
to Custer and his soldiers; by an exciting Presiden- 



5 04 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

tial election; by the admission of Colorado — the thir- 
ty-eighth and, so far, the last state — to the Union on 
the 4th of July; and especially by the Centennial Ex- 
position. As early as 1870 a plan was formed for 
holding in Philadelphia a great international exhibi- 
tion. The matter was taken up by Congress, money 
was appropriated by that body and by various state 
and city governments, a centennial commission was 
appointed, and the success of the scheme was as- 
sured. 

Fairmount Park, in Philadelphia, was selected as 
the site, and vast buildings, covering many acres of 
ground, were erected. Chief among these were the 
main exhibition building, art gallery, machinery hall, 
horticultural hall, and agricultural hall. The exposi- 
tion was opened on the loth of May and closed on 
the loth of November, 1876^ with appropriate cere- 
monies. Thirty-three nations were represented by 
their exhibits. Such a sight our country had never 
before witnessed. Nearly 10,000,000 persons visited 
it, and over $3,700,000 were received for admissions. 
The average daily attendance was nearly 62,000. 

During Grant's administration a remarkable num- 
ber of men whose names have become part of our 
history passed from among the living. In 1869 there 
died Edwin M. Stanton and ex-President Pierce; in 
1870, General Lee, General Thomas, and Admiral 
Farragut; in 1872, William H. Seward, Horace 
Greely, General Meade, and Professor Morse; in 
1873, Chief Justice Chase; in 1874, Charles Sumner; 
and in 1875, ex-President Johnson, John C. Breckin- 
ridge, and the Vice-President, Henry Wilson. 

In the Presidential election in the fall of 1876 three 
parties clamored for popular favor. The Independ- 
ent Greenback party demanded a reform in the cur- 
rency of the nation and nominated Peter Cooper, of 
New York, and Samuel F. Cary, of Ohio; but these 



GRA NT'S A DM IN IS TRA TION. 505 

candidates did not secure a single electoral vote. 
The Democratic party demanded reform in the pub- 
lic service and nominated Samuel J. Tilden, of New 
York, and Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana. The 
Republican party, asserting its willingness to pursue 
thoroucrh reform methods and standing on its record 
in the Civil War and reconstruction measures, nomi- 
nated General Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, and 
William A. Wheeler, of New York. The contest was 
exciting, and so close was the vote that the election 
was claimed by both parties. 

Frauds in voting in several states, particularly in 
Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina, were charged, 
and threats of another civil war were even heard. 
The difficulty was finally settled by Congress. A 
commission was chosen consisting of five members 
each from the Senate, the House of Representatives, 
and the Supreme Court, and to this tribunal of fif- 
teen the returns of disputed states were referred. 
The conclusion of the matter was reached on the 2d 
of March, only two days before the time for inaugura- 
tion. The Republican candidates were declared 
elected by a vote of 185 to 184 in the electoral col- 
lege. The greatest crisis in our political history was 
thus passed without violence. 



5o6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER LXIV. 

HAYES' ADMINISTRATION 1877-1881. 

Sketch of Hayes — His policy — Railroad strikes — Trouble with the 
Nez Perce Indians — Financial legislation — Resumption of spe- 
cie payments — Yellow fever — The Newfoundland fisheries 
question — A Chinese embassy at Washington — The life-saving 
service — The Ute Indians — The tenth census — Deaths of Bry- 
ant and Bayard Taylor — Presidential vetoes — The Panama 
canal — The Presidential campaign — Election of Garfield and 
Arthur. 

Rutherford B. Hayes was quietly inaugurated on 
the 5th of March, 1877, the 4th of the month falling 
on Sunday. The new President was in his fifty-fifth 
year, having been born in Delaware, Ohio, in Octo- 
ber, 1822. He was graduated at Kenyon College in 
1842, and finished his study of law at Harvard three 
years later. He practiced law till the outbreak of the 
Civil War, then entered the army, served with dis- 
tinction in various battles, among which were South 
Mountain and Cedar Creek, and reached the rank of 
brigadier-general and brevet major-general. In 1864 
he was elected to Congress, where he took his seat in 
December, 1865, and was afterward re-elected. He 
was governor of Ohio two terms in succession and 
was again elected in 1875. 

The President did much during his administration 
in paving the way for an effective reform of the civil 
departments of the government. He also followed a 
conciliatory policy toward the South, which was evi- 
denced by his appointing as Postmaster-General Da- 
vid M. Key, of Tennessee, who had been a leader in 



HA YES' ADMINISTKA TIOiV. 



507 



the Confederate army. During his term of office the 
nation took a long step away from the animosities 
and difficulties that had grown out of the Civil War. 

In the summer of 1877 the country was agitated by 
w^ide-spread railroad strikes. Several of the great 
railroads running from the Atlantic seaboard ordered 




RUTHERFORD B. HAVES. 



a reduction in the wages of their employes, which was 
violently resisted. The trains were blockaded at 
Martinsburg, West Virginia, about the middle of July; 
the strikers held their ground against the militia, and 
were only dispersed by troops of the regular army 
whom the President ordered to the spot. On the 



2o8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

2oth of July a riot occurred in Baltimore in which 
several lives were lost. Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, was 
the scene of the greatest disturbance. A mob, thou- 
sands in number, held possession of the city for two 
days. The buildings of the railroad company, many 
of their locomotives, and hundreds of cars with valu- 
able freight were burned. Property was destroyed 
to the extent of over $3,000,000 in value, and about 
100 lives were lost before the disturbance was quelled 
by the militia and regulars. Rioting also occurred in 
New York State, in Kentucky, at Reading, Chicago, 
and other places. For a fortnight the business of the 
country was paralyzed, but quiet was gradually re- 
stored. 

Trouble with the Nez Perce Indians of Idaho, led 
by their chief, Joseph, had commenced during Grant's 
administration. It now assumed a formidable char- 
acter, and General Howard was sent against them. 
The Indians were finally hemmed in and completely 
subdued in October, 1877, by a battle in which Colo- 
nel Miles led the United States troops. 

Financial questions occupied a prominent place 
during Hayes' administration. In 1875 Congress had 
passed an act for the resumption of specie payments 
on the ist of January, 1879. After that date the legal- 
tender notes of the United States were to be re- 
deemed in coin whenever presented. Attention now 
began to be directed to the acts of 1873-74 by which 
silver had been demonetized and gold made the sole 
standard of value. A clamor was raised throughout 
the country for the restoration of silver as a legal 
vender. Congress yielded to the popular demand and 
in February, 1878, passed over the President's veto 
the " Bland Bill," restoring the silver dollar to our 
currency and providing for its compulsory coinage in 
the mints. On the ist of January, 1879. specie pay- 
ments were resumed without any disastrous effect on 



HA YES' ADMINISTRA TION. 509 

the commercial interests of the country. For nearly 
seventeen years gold and silver had been at a premi- 
um over paper money. Now the balance was restored, 
and the financial depression which had existed for 
some years was remedied. The Bankrupt Act was 
repealed in 1878. 

A frightful visitation of yellow fever oppressed the 
valley of the lower Mississippi in the summer of 1878. 
Commencing in New Orleans, the insidious disease 
made its way through city after city and town after 
town as far north as Louisville. Twenty thousand 
people suffered and 7,000 perished from the plague. 
The northern states made splendid contributions of 
men and money to aid their afflicted brethren in the 
south. 

In November, 1877, was settled a difficulty with 
Great Britain concerning the Newfoundland fisheries. 
The same commission that met at Washington in 1871 
and decided on the method of settling the Alabama 
claims provided for a similar adjustment of the fish- 
eries dispute. The body to whom this matter was re- 
ferred met at Halifax and ordered an award of 
$5,500,000 to be paid by our government to Great 
Britain. Though this award was felt to be unjust, the 
United States paid the amount. 

The year 1878 was marked by the establishment at 
Washington of a resident Chinese embassy and by the 
adoption of a plan for the present admirable life-sav- 
ing service which patrols the dangerous parts of our 
coasts to aid shipwrecked vessels and mariners. In the 
fall of 1879 an outbreak of the Ute Indians occurred 
which cost the lives of the government agent, of Major 
Thornburgh, and of a number of soldiers before it 
was quelled. 

The census of 1880 showed a population of over 
50,000,000, with its center at Cincinnati. Twenty 
cities could be counted in the Union with over 100,000 



^lo HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

inhabitants. New York, with a population of over 
1,200,000, was still the first city in the country, and 
New York State, with over 5,000,000 inhabitants, was 
the most populous state in the Union. During Hayes' 
administration the national debt was reduced over 
^200,000.000. 

Prominent among the names of eminent persons 
who died during these four years were those of 
William Cullen Bryant and Bayard Taylor, both of 
splendid literary reputation and the latter our min- 
ister to Germany. Both passed away in 1878. 

During his term of office President Hayes vetoed 
a bill for the restriction of Chinese immigration to 
this country, and also bills for preventing the pres- 
ence of United States troops at the polls to preserve 
order at the national elections. In 1880 M. de Les- 
seps, the constructor of the Suez Canal, visited this 
country in connection with an enterprise for cutting 
a similar canal through the Isthmus of Panama. 
The President, in March of this year, declared in a 
message to Congress that the United States should 
maintain control over any such canal sufficient to 
protect our national interests. 

During the summer of 1880 four political parties 
put candidates in the field. The nominees of the 
Republicans were General James A. Garfield, of Ohio, 
and Chester A. Arthur, of New York; of the Demo- 
crats, General Winfield S. Hancock, stationed at 
New York, and William H. English, of Indiana; of 
the National Greenback party. General James B. 
Weaver, of Iowa, and General Benjamin J. Chambers, 
of Texas; and of the Prohibition party, Neal Dow, 
of Maine, and John W. Phelps, of Vermont. The 
Greenback party advocated financial reforms; the 
Prohibition party desired national legislation against 
the sale of liquor; the Democratic party maintained 
its old principles and advised lower duties on im- 



HA YES' A D MINIS TRA TION. 5 1 1 

ported goods — a " tariff for revenue only;" the Re- 
publican party stood on its record for the last twenty 
years. The electoral votes were divided between the 
candidates of the last two parties. Every southern 
state voted for Hancock and English, and almost all 
the north for Garfield and Arthur. The latter were 
elected by a considerable electoral and a small pop- 
ular majority. 



5 1 2 HIS TOR Y OF THE UNITED ST A lES, 



CHAPTER LXV. 

ADMINISTRATIONS OF GARFIELD AND ARTHUR 

18S1-1885. 

Sketch of Garfield — Civil Service Reform — The " Half-breeds " 
and "Stalwarts" — Conkling and Piatt resign — Assassination 
of Garfield — His death and burial — Arthur becomes Presi- 
dent — Sketch of his life — Trial and execution of Guiteau — The 
"Star Route" frauds — Arctic expeditions — The East River 
Bridge and Northern Pacific Railroad completed — Bartholdi's 
statue of "Liberty Enlightening the World" — The Washing- 
ton monument — Riot in Cincinnati — Congressional legisla- 
tion — Chinese immigration prohibited — The Presidential cam- 
paign — Cleveland and Hendricks elected — The Democratic 
party is restored to power. 

James A. Garfield, the twentieth President of the 
United States, was inaugurated, in his fiftieth year, 
on the 4th of March, 1881. He was born in Ohio in 
November, 1831. His father died in his infancy, and 
his mother was left in poverty with a family to bring 
up. The boy as he grew in strength did what he 
could for the family by working as a carpenter 
and a farmer, and the period of youth found the 
future president a driver and then a pilot of a canal- 
boat. By hard labor and perseverance he earned 
his livelihood and prepared himself for college. He 
studied and taught at first in Hiram College, Ohio, 
and then went to Williams College, in Massachu- 
setts, from which institution he was graduated in 
1856. He afterward returned to Hiram College as a 
professor, and finally became its president. He com- 
menced the practice of law, and was elected to the 



GA R FIELD' S A DM1 NIS TRA TION, r 1 3 

Ohio senate. He entered into active service in the 
Civil War as an officer of the Ohio volunteers, be- 
came a brigadier-general, served as chief of staff 




JAMES A. GARFIELD. 



to General Rosecrans, and distinguished himself at 
Chickamauga. While still with the army he was 
elected to Congress, where he served his country for 
sixteen years, during which time he occupied a prom- 
inent position in the Republican party. He had been 



514 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

elected to the United States Senate, but his election 
as President prevented his ever sitting in that body. 

On the day following his inauguration the Presi- 
dent sent to the Senate the nominations for Cabinet 
officers. At the head of the list was James G. Blaine, 
and the names were prom.ptly conhrmed. 

The very commencement of Garfield's administra- 
tion brought into prominence the question of Civil 
Service Reform. Since the days of Jackson each in- 
auguration had seen an increased demand for posi- 
tions in the government service by those who had 
aided the successful candidate. The Republican 
party at this time was divided into two factions which 
entertained bitter feelings toward each other. The 
one faction, known as the "Half-breeds," was led by 
Blaine; the other, called the "Stalwarts," found 
an able leader in Roscoe Conkling, Senator from 
New York, Both wings of the party had united to 
elect Garfield, but on his inauguration the animosi- 
ties were increased, and the " Half-breeds " favored, 
by Blaine's appointment as Secretary of State. The 
" Stalwarts," in the Republican convention of 1880, 
had supported with a considerable and continuous 
vote the nomination of General Grant as Presidential 
candidate. ^ 

One of the best offices in the gift of the President 
and Senate is the collectorship of the port of New 
York. Garfield nominated for this office William H. 
Robertson, who was disliked by the "Stalwarts." 
Conkling opposed the confirmation of this appoint- 
ment, but he was unable to control the action of the 
Senate. He and his colleague, Thomas C. Piatt, at 
once resigned. A bitter contest followed in the New 
York legislature for the election of their successors. 
Conkling and Piatt were candidates for a re-election, 
which would indorse the position they had assumed. 
In their efforts, however, they were not successful. 



GARFIELD'S ADMINISTRA TION, 



515 



In the midst of this excitement the country was 
startled and stricken with sorrow from end to end by 
the sad news that was telegraphed from the capital 
on the 2d of July, 1881. On the morning of that day 
President Garfield entered the Baltimore and Potomac 
Railroad depot at Washington arm in arm with 
Secretary Blaine. He was about to take the train for 
a trip to New England. As he was walking through 
the station two pistol-shots rang out on the air, and 
the President fell, wounded by one of the bullets in 
the back. He was quickly taken to the White House. 
Meanwhile the assassin had been arrested. He proved 
to be a disappointed and half-crazy office-seeker named 
Charles J. Guiteau. 

The President lingered in fearful agony. Two sur- 
gical operations w^ere performed, and at times his re- 
covery was expected. But relapses occurred again 
and again, and his life gradually wasted away while 
the country was vibrating between hope and fear. 
After two months of suffering the President was 
removed, on the 6th of September, to a cottage at 
Elberon, Long Branch, on the Jersey coast. Here 
he improved considerably, but in a few days had a 
serious relapse. The end came on the 19th of Sep- 
tember. For eighty days he had used his strong will- 
power to preserve his life; for eighty days his wife 
had watched and tended the sufferer; for eighty days 
the nation had hoped and prayed for his recovery. 
In vain the tender nursing, the watchful care, the 
medical skill; in vain the hopes, the wishes, the 
prayers. 

Garfield's body was taken to Washington and then 
to Cleveland, Ohio, at each of which places it lay in 
state and was gazed upon by thousands upon thou- 
sands of men, women, and children. On the 26th of 
September the remains were deposited in their final 
resting-place. 



5i6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The Presidential office was filled, according to the 
provisions of the Constitution, by the Vice-President, 
Chester A. Arthur, who took the oath at his home in 
New York early in themorningof September 20th, afew 
hours after Garfield's death. The new President was 
in his fifty-first year, having been born in October, 
1830, in Vermont. He was graduated at Union Col- 
lege, studied law, and attained a prominent position 
in New York. During the Civil War he had con- 
ducted with great ability the office of quartermaster- 
general of his state. From 187 1 to 1878 he had been 
collector of the port of New York. On the 22d of 
September, 1881, he again took the oath of office, ad- 
ministered by Chief Justice Waite, at Washington. 
The government went smoothly on, but soon Arthur 
changed several members of his Cabinet. F. T, Fre- 
linghuysen, of New Jersey, took Blaine's position as 
Secretary of State. 

The trial of Guiteau, the assassin of Garfield, com- 
menced in November, at Washington. It was a re- 
markable trial aside from the interest which it would 
naturally excite, and it was closely followed by the en- 
tire nation. Its result was the conviction of the 
prisoner, and he was hanged in the following June. 

The " Star Route" frauds occupied the public at- 
tention about this time. Certain officers of the gov- 
ernment had been given the authority to spend money 
for expediting the post-office service of the country. 
It was charged that a conspiracy had been formed for 
defrauding the government in the financial aid given 
to certain mail-routes in the west. Indictments were 
brought against seyeral persons, among whom were 
Senator Dorsey and Second Assistant Postmaster- 
General Brady. After a long trial the principals es- 
caped punishment. 

During Arthur's administration two expeditions 
which had been sent to explore northern latitudes 



A R TH UR 'S A D MINIS TRA TION 



517 



were heard from. The Jeannette had been dispatched 
by the government in co-operation witli James Gor- 
don Bennett, proprietor of the New York Herald. Its 
commander, De Long, and many of his party lost 




CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 



their lives in the arctic regions. In 1S84 the Thetis 
and the Bear^ together with the Alert, presented by 
the British government, which had been sent to ob- 
tain tidings of another expedition under the leader- 
ship of Lieutenant Greeley, returned to the United 



5i8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

States with a few survivors of the ill-fated expedition. 
Greeley and his few remaining comrades were res- 
cued from the very brink of starvation. They had 
passed through almost incredible suffering, but had 
succeeded in reaching the highest latitude ever at- 
tained — eighty-three degrees and twenty-four min- 
utes north. 

In 1883 the bridge across the East River, connect- 
ing the cities of New York and Brooklyn, was opened 
for travel. The central span of this suspension bridge 
is 1,595 feet long, and the roadway is 135 feet above 
the water. The whole structure is one of the most 
remarkable in the world. The same year marked the 
completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad. 

"In 1884 the corner-stone was laid on Bedloe's Island, 
New York harbor, for a pedestal to support Bar- 
tholdi's colossal statue of " Liberty Enlightening the 
World." The statue is presented by the French 
people, and the pedestal is to be erected by the people 
of the United States. Pedestal and statue are each to 
be about 150 feet in height, and the latter is to bear a 
powerful electric light. In February, 1885, the Wash- 
ington monument in the capital of the country was 
dedicated with appropriate ceremonies. This mon- 
ument, in honor of our first President, is in the form 
of an obelisk and rises 555 feet above the ground. A 
World's Fair was opened in New Orleans in De- 
cember, 1884, which lasted for six months. 

In March, 1884, the country was startled by a riot 
in Cincinnati. Dissatisfaction with the result of a 
murder trial enraged the populace, and for three days 
a mob terrorized the city. Public buildings and con- 
siderable property were destroyed and forty-five per- 
sons were killed and over 100 wounded before the 
militia succeeded in restoring order. In the spring of 
1882 disastrous floods in the Ohio and Mississippi val- 
leys caused considerable loss of life, destroyed much 



^ A' TH UK'S A D MINIS TKA TIOiV, 



519 



property, and rendered thousands of people home^ 
less. 

In 1882 a bill was passed by Congress prohibiting 
Chinese immigration to this country for a period of 
ten years, and the " Edmunds Law" for the disfran- 
chisement of polygamiists in Utah was also adopted. 
In January, 1883, an act was passed for reforming the 
civil service, and a commission, with Dorman B. 
Eaton, of New York, at its head, was appointed to 
carry the law into effect. A new tariff bill was passed 
on the 3d of March, 1883, and duties on imported 
merchandise were somewhat reduced. On the 4th of 
March, 1885, Congress passed a bill authorizing the 
President to place one person on the retired list of 
the army with full pay as general for life. President 
Arthur at once signed the bill and nominated for the 
position Ulysses S. Grant, who had lately suffered 
severely in unfortunate business transactions. The 
Senate confirmed the nomination a few minutes before 
the end of the Forty-eighth Congress and Arthur's 
Presidential term. 

The same political parties that had contested the 
previous election put candidates in the field in 1884. 
The Prohibition candidates were John P. St. John, of 
Kansas, and William Daniel, of Maryland, and the 
Greenback, or People's party, put into nomination 
Benjamin F. Butler, of Massachusetts, and A. M. 
West, of Mississippi. The Republicans named James 
G. Blaine, of Maine, and John A. Logan, of Illinois. 
The Democrats put forward Grover Cleveland, of 
New York, and Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana. 
The contest lay once more chiefly between the two 
parties last mentioned. Among national questions 
the Republicans stood on their record and also argued 
for a spirited foreign policy. The Democrats clam- 
ored for a reduction in the tariff, for reform in the 
government, and Cleveland pledged himself to the 



520 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

cause of civil service reform. But the campaign was 
waged chiefly on personal issues and was very bitter. 
A considerable defection occurred of " Independent 
Republicans" who were opposed to Blaine's candi- 
dacy. The result was the election of Cleveland and 
Hendricks by a good electoral majority, but by a 
plurality in the popular vote of only about 65,000. 
New York was the pivotal state, and the Democrats 
carried it by a slender plurality of less than 1,200 
votes. For the first time in twenty-four years the 
Republicans had failed to elect their nominees for 
President and Vice-President. The House of Repre- 
sentatives by this time had also passed out of the 
hands of the Republicans, though they still retained a 
small majority in the Senate. 



CLE VELAND'S ADMINISTKA TIOiV, 5 2 1 



CHAPTER LXVI. 

Cleveland's administration — J885 and 1886. 

Sketch of Cleveland — His Cabinet — Death of Grant — His burial — 
Other prominent persons pass away — Cleveland's message to 
Congress — The Presidential succession — Labor demonstra- 
tions and strikes — The eight-hours movement — Trouble with 
Canada and Mexico — Marriage of the President — The history- 
brought to a close. 

Grover Cleveland, the twenty-second President of 
the United States, was born in New Jersey in March, 
1837. When inaugurated, on the 4th of March, 1885, 
he was therefore forty-eight years of age. His early 
years were passed laboriously in helping to support 
his widowed mother, but he acquired a good educa- 
tion, studied law, and finally settled in Buffalo, New 
York, practicing his profession. As mayor of Buf- 
falo he earned an enviable reputation as an honest, 
honorable, and sincere reformer. In the fall of 1882 
he was nominated by the Democratic party for the 
responsible oflfice of governor of New York. Large 
numbers of Republicans who were dissatisfied with 
the methods by which their own candidate had been 
nominated voted for the Democrat, others abstained 
from voting, and the result was a sweeping majority 
of nearly 200,000 votes for Cleveland. While still 
holding this important office he was nominated by 
the Democratic national convention and elected to the 
office of President. 

The men whom Cleveland chose as his Cabinet 
officers were confirmed by the Senate. The list is as 
follows: Thomas F. Bayard, of Delaware, Secretary 



^22 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

of State; Daniel Manning, of New York, Secretary 
of the Treasury; William C. Endicott, of Massachu- 
setts, Secretary of War; William C. Whitney, of New 
York, Secretary of the Navy; L. Q. C. Lamar, of 
Mississippi, Secretary of the Interior; William F. 
Vilas, of Wisconsin, Postmaster-General; and A. H. 
Garland, of Arkansas, Attorney-General. No changes 
have as yet taken place in the Cabinet, though the 
Secretary of the Treasury was severely stricken by 
illness in the spring of 1886. 

In the summer of 1885 an event occurred which af- 
fected the entire nation with great grief. On the 23d 
of July General Ulysses S. Grant died, at Mount Mc- 
Gregor, New York, after months of suffering. The 
country had watched with pride and sorrow the calm 
fortitude of its hero under the insidious advances of a 
fatal cancer. Now when he was released from pain 
but taken forever from the people, the nation was pro- 
foundly moved. The body of the ex-President and 
great general was taken to Albany, where it lay in 
state, and then to New York. There tens of thousands 
of persons passed in solemn silence to gaze once more 
on the face of the dead hero. On the 8th of August 
the remains were laid to rest in a temporary vault at 
Riverside Park, New York. A procession composed 
of detachments from the United States army and 
navy, of the militia, of the Grand Army of the Re- 
public, and of other bodies, and numbering over 40,000 
men, formed the last sad escort. 

The South as well as the North joined in mourning 
for the dead. His respect during tlie Civil War for 
the brave men whom he opposed and his considera- 
tion after the terrible conflict was ended for the suf- 
fering people of the South, while they did not destroy 
for a moment the confidence reposed in him by one 
section of the country, had earned the gratitude and 
affection of the other. As if to mark the final cessa- 



CLEVELAND'S ADMINISTRA TION 



523 



tion of all sectional animosities, among his pall-bear- 
ers were included General Joseph E. Johnston, of 
Virginia, and General Simon B. Buckner, of Ken- 
tucky, both of whom had been military leaders of the 
Confederate armies. Generals Sherman and vSheri- 
dan, Admiral Porter, Vice-Admiral Rowan, and other 




GROVER CLEVELAND. 



persons distinguished in civil life were their com- 
panions. 

Several other eminent persons have lately passed 
from our midst. In October, 1S85, General George 
B. McClellan died. On the 25th of November the 
Vice-President, Thomas A. Hendricks, died, at the 
age of sixty-six years, in Indianapolis, where he was 
buried with great honors. On the 9th of February, 
1886, one of the heroes of Gettysburg, General Win- 



524 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



field Scott Hancock, passed away at Governor's 
Island, New York harbor. In February Horatio Sey- 
mour was laid to rest, and on the 4th of August 
Samuel J. Tilden died. 

The President's message to the Forty-ninth Con- 
gress, which assembled in December, 1885, suggested 
a reduction in the duties on imported necessaries of 
life and a suspension of the compulsory coinage of 
silver; advised that measures be taken for building 
up an efficient navy and for the suppression of polyg- 
amy in Utah; argued for the encouragement of civil 
service reform; and urged tliat the Presidential suc- 
cession be established by law. The last suggestion 
was met by a law which passed both houses of Con- 
gress, and was approved by Cleveland on the 19th of 
January, 1886. It provides that in the case of the 
death of both President and Vice-President the duties 
of chief magistrate shall be performed by the Secre- 
tary of State; in case of his disability, by the next 
Cabinet officer; and so on through the list. 

In the spring of 1886 the country was agitated by 
great labor demonstrations. Early in March an ex- 
tensive strike was begun that soon spread over all the 
southwestern railroad system. The transporting bus- 
iness of this portion of the country was greatly ham- 
pered for several weeks, and at some points blood 
was shed. The chief disorder of this sort occurred at 
East St. Louis, Illinois, where the militia were finally 
called out to preserve order. Several strikes were 
also carried out on the street-car roads in New York 
City. On the Pacific slope the employment of Chi- 
nese laborers excited riotous opposition, and several 
lives were lost. 

On the ist of May a demonstration was made at 
various points throughout the country for eight hours 
as the limit of a day's work. The agitation was peace- 
ably carried on in most places, but trouble occurred 
in Chicago and Milwaukee. In the former city a 



CLE VELAND'S ADML\'ISTRA TION, 525 

boay of anarchists took advantage of the turmoil, 
and on the 4th of May a bomb was thrown among a 
body of police. A frightful explosion occurred, and 
many lives were lost thereby and by the firing that 
ensued on both sides. 

In May the old question of the Canadian fisheries 
was brought to the attention of the country by the 
seizure of an American schooner, the David J. Adams, 
on a charge of having purchased bait within forbid- 
den limits. Considerable excitement was aroused in 
Canada and the United States, but it seems probable 
that it will be peaceably settled. 

A difficulty with Mexico occurred in July. Our 
government has demanded the release of an Ameri- 
can citizen named Cutting who is held by the Mexi- 
can authorities. No conclusion has yet been reached 
in the matter. 

On the 2d of June, 1886, the bachelor President 
was united in marriage to Miss Frances Folsom, of 
Buffalo, New York. It was not the first time that a 
President of this country had taken to himself a wife, 
but it was the first time that such a marriage had 
taken place at the White House. The ceremony was 
simple, and was witnessed by a small company com- 
posed of the relatives of the President and his bride, 
of the Cabinet offtcers and their wives, and by a few 
intimate friends. At its conclusion the bride and 
groom departed to Deer Park, Maryland, where they 
passed a Lhort and secluded honeymoon. 

With this happy occurrence we bring the history of 
the United States to an auspicious conclusion. It is 
fitting that a nation which has fought and can fight 
great wars, and which has been and will be agi- 
tated by countless differences and quarrels, but which 
is, above all, a nation of peace and, in the main, har- 
monious feelings, should be ended by the chronicle of 
such an event. May the harmony prevail and the dis- 
cords disappear! 



^26 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 



CHAPTER LXVII. 

CONCLUSION. 

Commencement of our history — Review of its periods — Increase 
in population and area — Progress in mechanical directions — 
Increased commerce and travel — Wealth of the United States — 
Its state of civilization — Europe indebted to us — The example 
of a free, representative, and stable government — No tyranny 
or castes — Freedom and equality for all — Good ground for 
pride in our country. 

Thus we have passed in review the events which 
have made the United States what it is to-day. It 
was precisely 900 years ago, to the best of our knowl- 
edge, that the first white man saw America. But 
Herjulfson and his successors among the daring 
Norsemen passed away, and the knowledge of the 
shores they had touched survived only as a dim tra- 
dition. The real history of this continent commences 
less than four centuries ago with the name of Colum- 
bus, and it was not until 1607 that the foundations of 
the United States were laid with the settlement of the 
first English colony at Jamestown, Virginia. 

Then, after the Period of Discovery and Explo- 
ration commenced the Period of Settlement and 
Growth. Villages were at first feeble and scattered, 
and it was not until 1733 that Georgia, the thirteenth 
colony, was founded. But by that time the other 
colonies had been developing, and when, in 1754, the 
horrors of the French and Indian War commenced, a 
race of hardy, resolute,, and prosperous people was 
found on the Atlantic coast. 

Then came the Period of Independence and Union — 



CONCLUSION. 



527 



of independence which cost a bitter struggle for eight 
long years, and of union which involved heated de- 
bates and mutual compromises in the formation of a 
Constitution. 

Our history as a nation commenced in 1789, when 
that Constitution went into operation. The inaugu- 
ration of Washington as our first President ushered in 
a long Period of Development and Prosperity. De- 
spite the party conflicts, despite the War of 1812, de- 
spite the Mexican War, despite the fierce conflicts over 
the slavery question, the nation prospered abundant- 
ly and developed wonderfully in area, in population, 
and in every direction. 

Then came that dark page in our history, the Period 
of Civil War and Emancipation — four years of gloom 
and darkness indeed for the entire country, though 
illumined by splendid feats of bravery and by count- 
less acts of heroism. But out of the cloud of battle 
the states emerged once more a united nation and a 
free nation. 

The Period of Reconstruction and Peace concludes 
the tale. To-day the reconstruction has been com- 
pletely effected and peace dwells throughout the land. 

The mere outlines of our history are wonderful in 
themselves : filled out by the details which are re- 
corded in the previous chapters, they are still more 
marvelous. Four centuries ago not a white man trod 
the American soil. At the time of the Revolution the 
colonists numbered less than 3,000,000. To-day the 
population of the country is over 55,000,000. Our 
territory has also increased enormously. The area of 
the thirteen original states was 421,000 square miles ; 
to-day the jurisdiction of the United States extends 
over more than 3,600,000 square miles of territory. 
And the thirteen original states are now joined in a 
Union of thirty-eight states and ten territories, be- 
sides the District of Columbia. 



528 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Our progress in mechanical directions has been 
rapid. The invention of the cotton-gin, the introduc- 
tion of the steamboat and the railroad, the use of the 
telegraph and now of the telephone, the adoption of 
gas-lights and now of electric lights, the invention of 
the sewing-machine, and countless other discoveries 
and inventions, either original in this nation or speedi- 
ly adopted from others, have brought us to an unri- 
valed excellence in the mechanical arts and sciences. 

With these have come increased commerce and 
travel; with these have come intellectual development. 
Our wealth is attested by the fact that the average 
wealth of the inhabitants of the United States is 
greater than that of any other people on the face of 
the earth. Our progress in civilization is proven by 
the excellent public and private schools, by the nu- 
merous colleges scattered through the land, by vari- 
ous learned societies, and by the innumerable churches 
and hospitals which minister to the spiritual and 
physical natures of the nation. 

Much, indeed, do we owe to the Old World, but 
much in return does Europe owe to us. The institu- 
tion of a representative government, so stable and 
firmly founded that it could endure the great shocks 
of repelling invasion in the War of 1812, of carrying 
on a foreign campaign in the war with Mexico, of a 
Civil War that was one of the most bitter, costly, and 
fierce struggles known to history — the institution of 
so stable a government " by the people, of the people, 
and for the people," has given encouragement to the 
millions who faint beneath the tyrannies of European 
thrones. Gradually the Eastern Continent is becom- 
ing more liberal, and much of this progress is due to 
the example set by the United States. 

Here free speech and a free press are not only per- 
mitted but encouraged. We are tolerant of every 
opinion; we are liberal to the extreme; we have no 



CONCLUSION. 525 

hereditary titles, no orders of nobility. The laborer 
who earns^ his living by the sweat of his brow re- 
ceives as much protection from the law as the richest 
millionaire or the highest official. No limit is placed 
to his wealth or elevation. Presidents of our country 
have split rails or driven canal-boats in their youth. 
But in this free air no anarchy can flourish. No 
theories which seek the dissolution of society find 
favor or encouragement in our midst. The American 
soil and the American air are too free and healthy 
for such morbid growths. 

To one who considers the history of our past and 
our present, it does not seem wonderful that Ameri- 
cans are proud of their country. No other nation 
which ever existed has grown in such a short period 
to such splendid proportions. It is not strange that 
we look back with enthusiasm on our past trials and 
triumphs, that we think of our present with pride 
and of our future with hope. With one heart and 
one desire the American people look forward to re- 
newed triumphs in the coming centuries, to still 
greater prosperity, still vaster development, and a 
still grander civilization for the United States. 



Appendix. 



AFFENDIX, iij 



APPENDIX A, 



ThE SOCIAL COMPACT SIGNED IN THE 

CABIN OF THE '' MAYFLOWER," 1620. 

In the name of God, Amen; We, whose names are underwrit- 
ten, the loyall subjects of our dread soveraigne King James, by 
the grace of God, of Great Britaine, France, and Ireland King, 
defender of the faith, etc., haveing undertaken, for the glorie of 
God, and advancement of the Christian faith and honor of our 
king and countrie, a voyage to plant the first colonie in the North- 
erne parts of Virginia, doe, by these presents, solemnly and mut- 
ually, in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and 
combine ourselves together into a civill body politick, for our bet- 
ter ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends afore- 
said: and, by vertue heareof, to enacte. constitute, and frame, such 
just and equall laws, ordenances, acts, constitutions and ofRces, 
from time to time, as shall be thought most meete and convenient 
for the generall good of the Colonie. Unto which we promise all 
due submission and obedience. In vvitnes whereof we have here- 
under subscribed our names, at Cap Codd, the nth of Novem- 
ber, in the year of the raigne of our sovereigne lord, King James, 
of England, France, and Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland 
the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini, 1620. 



iv. HIS TOR Y OF THE UNITED ST A TES. 



APPENDIX B. 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

A Derlaration by the Representatives of the United States of America 
in Congress assembled, fuly 4, 1776. 

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for 
one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected 
them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, 
the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of 
nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of man- 
kind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them 
to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created 
equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalien- 
able rights; that among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit 01 
happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are insti- 
tuted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of 
the governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes 
destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to 
abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation 
on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to 
them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. 
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established, 
should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accord- 
ingly, all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed 
to suffer, while evils are sufferable. than to right themselves by 
abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when 
a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the 
same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute des- 
potism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such govern- 
ment, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such 
has been the patient sufferance of these colonies, and such is now 



APPENDIX. V 

the necessity which constrains them to alter their former sys- 
tems of government. The history of the present king of Great 
Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all hav- 
ing, in direct object, the establishment of an absolute tyranny over 
these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid 
world: 

He has refused to assent to laws the most wholesome and nec- 
essary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and 
pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his 
assent should be obtained; and, when so suspended, he has utterly 
neglected to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of 
large districts of people, unless those people would relmquish the 
right of representation in the legislature; a right inestimable to 
them, and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, un- 
comfortable, and distant from the depository of their public rec- 
ords, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with 
his measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for oppos- 
ing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people. 
He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause 
others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of 
annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exer- 
cise; the state remaining, in the meantime, exposed to all the dan- 
ger of invasion from without, and convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; 
for that purpose, obstructing the laws for naturalization of for- 
eigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration 
hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands. 
He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his 
assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure 
of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither 
swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their sub- 
stance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, 
without the consent of our legislatures. 

He has affected to render the military independent of, and 
superior to, the civil power. 

He has combined, with others, to subject us to a jurisdiction 
foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; 
giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation: 



vi HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: 

For protecting them by a mock trial, from punishment, for 
any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these 
states: 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world: 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent: 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefit of trial by jury: 

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried lor pretended 
offenses: 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring 
province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and en- 
larging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and 
fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these 
colonies: 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable 
laws, and altering, fundamentally, the powers of our govern- 
ments: 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves 
invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his 
protection, and waging war against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our 
towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign merce- 
naries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, 
already begun, with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely 
paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the 
head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the 
high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the exe- 
cutioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by 
their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections among us, and has en- 
deavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless 
Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished 
destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for re- 
dress, in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions have been 
answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is 
thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be 
the Tuler of a free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. 
We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts made by 
their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. 
We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration 



APPENDIX. vii 

and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice 
and magnanimity, and we have conjured them, by the ties of our 
common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which would in- 
evitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They, 
too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and consanguinity. 
We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces 
our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, 
enemies in war, in peace, friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of 
America, in general Congress assembled, appealing to the Su- 
preme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, 
in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these col- 
onies, solemnly publish and declare, that these United Colonies 
are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states; that 
they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and 
that all political connection between them and the state of Great 
Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; and that, as free 
and independent states, they have full power to levy war, con- 
clude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all 
other acts and things which independent states may of right do. 
And, for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on 
the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each 
other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 

JOHN HANCOCK. 

New Hampshire. — Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew 
Thornton. 

Massachusetts Bay. — Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert 
Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry. 

Rhode Island, etc. — Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery. 

Connecticut. — Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William 
Williams, Oliver Wolcott. 

A^ezu Kt?rZ'.— William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, 
Lewis Morris. 

New Jersey. — Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis 
Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark. 

Pennsylvania. — Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin 
Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George 
Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross. 

Delaware. — Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thox-nas M'Kean. 



viii HISTORY OF' THE UNITED STATES, 

Maryland. — Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, 
Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

Vh-ginia. — George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jeffer- 
son, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot 
Lee, Carter Braxton. 

North Carolina. — William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn. 

South Carolina. — Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., 
Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton. 

Georgia. — Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton. 



APPENDIX, 



APPENDIX C. 



ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION AND 
PERPETUAL UNION 

Between the States of iVe'cV IlaiiipsJiire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode 
Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, 
Nc70 Jersey, Pennsylvania, Dclazuare, Maryland, Virginia, 
North Carolina, South Cat'olina, and Georgia. 

Article I. The style of this confederacy shall be, "The 
United States of America." 

Article II. Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and 
independence, and every power, jurisdiction 'and right, which is 
not, by this Confederation, expressly delegated to the United 
States in Congress assembled. 

Article III. The said states hereby severally enter into a firm 
league of friendship with each other, for their common defense, 
the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general wel- 
fare; binding themselves to assist each other against all force 
offered to, or attacks made upon, them, or any of them, on ac- 
count of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretense 
whatever. 

Article IV. The better to secure and perpetuate mutual 
friendship and intercourse among the people of the different slates 
in this Union, the free inhabitants of each of these states, paupers, 
vagabonds, and fugitives from justice, excepted, shall be entitled 
to all privileges and immunities of free citizens in the several 
states; and the people of each state shall have free ingress and 
egress to and from any other state; and shall enjoy therein all 
the privileges of trade and commerce, subject to the same duties, 
impositions, and restrictions, as the inhabitants thereof respect- 
ively; provided, that such restrictions shall not extend so far as to 



X HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

prevent the removal of property imported into any state, to any 
other state of which the owner is an inhabitant; provided also, 
that no imposition, duties, or restriction, shall be laid by any 
state, on the property of the United Spates, or either of them. 
. If any person guilty of, or charged with, treason, felony, or 
other high misdemeanor, in any state, shall flee from justice, and 
be found in any of the United States, he shall, upon demand of 
the governor or executive power of the state from which he fled, 
be delivered up, and removed to the state having jurisdiction of 
his offense. 

Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these states to the 
records, acts and judicial proceedings, of the courts and magis- 
trates of every other state. 

Article V. For the more convenient management of the gen- 
eral interests of the United States, delegates shall be annually 
appointed in such manner as the legislature of each state shall 
direct, to meet in Congress on the first Monday in November, in 
every year, with a power reserved to each state to recall its dele- 
gates, or any of them, at any time within the year, and send 
others in their stead, for the remainder of the year. 

No state shall be represented in Congress by less than two, nor 
by more than seven, members; and no person shall be capable of 
being a delegate for more than, three years in any term of six 
years; nor shall any person, being a delegate, be capable of hold- 
ing any office under the United States, for Avhich he, or another 
for his benefit, receives any salary, fees, or emolument of any 
kind. 

Each state shall maintain its own delegates in a meeting of the 
states, and while they act as members of the committee of the 
states. 

In determining questions in the United States in Congress as- 
sembled, each state shall have one vote. 

Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shall not be im- 
peached or questioned, in any court or place out of Congress; 
and the members of Congress shall be protected in their persons 
from arrests and imprisonment, during the time of their going to, 
and from, and attendance on, Congress, except for treason, fel- 
ony, or breach of the peace. 

Article VI. No state, without the consent of the United 
States in Congress assembled, shall send any embassy to, or re- 
ceive any embassy from, or enter into any conference, agreement, 
alliance, or treaty, with any king, prince, or state; nor shall any 
person, holding any office of profit, or trust, under the United 
States, or any of them, accept of any present, emolument, office 
or title, of any kind v/hatever, from any king, prince, or foreign 



APPENDIX. xi 

state; nor shall the United States in Congress assembled, or any 
of them, grant any title of nobility. 

No two or more states shall enter into any treaty, confedera- 
tion, or alliance whatever, between them, Avithout the consent of 
the United States in Congress assembled, specifying accurately 
the purposes for which the same is to be entered into, and how 
long it shall continue. 

No state shall lay any imposts or duties which may interfere 
with any stipulations in treaties entered into, by the United 
States in Congress assembled, with any king, prince, or state, in 
pursuance of any treaties, already proposed by Congress to the 
courts of France and Spain. 

No vessels of war shall be kept up, in time of peace, by any 
state, except such number only, as shall be deemed necessary, by 
the United States in Congress assembled, for the defense of such 
state, or its trade; nor shall any body of forces be kept up by any 
state, in time of peace, except such number only, as in the judg- 
ment of the United States in Congress assembled, shall be deemed 
requisite to garrison the forts necessary for the defense of such 
state; but every state shall always keep up a well-regulated and 
disciplined militia, sufficiently armed and accoutered; and shall 
provide and constantly have ready for use, in public stores, a due 
number of field-pieces and tents, and a proper quantity of arms, 
ammunition, and camp equipage. 

No state shall engage in any war, without the consent of the 
United States in Congress assembled, unless such state be actually 
invaded by enemies, or shall have received certain advice of a res- 
olution being formed by some nation of Indians to invade such 
state, and the danger is so imminent as not to admit of a delay, 
till the United States in Congress assembled can be consulted; nor 
shall any state grant commissions to any ship or vessels of war, nor 
letters of marque or reprisal, except it be after a declaration of war 
by the United States in Congress assembled; and then only against 
the kingdom or state, and the subjects thereof, against which war 
has been so declared, and under such regulations as shall be estab- 
lished by the United States in Congress assembled; unless such 
state be infested by pirates, in which vessels of war may be fitted 
out for that occasion, and kept so long as the danger shall con- 
tinue, or until the United States in Congress assembled shall de- 
termine otherwise. 

Article VII. When land forces are raised by any state for the 
common defense, all officers of, or under, the rank of colonel, shall 
be appointed by the legislature of each state, respectively, by 
whom such forces shall be raised, or in such manner as such state 
shall direct; and all vacancies shall be filled up by the state which 
first made the appointment. 



xii HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Article VIII. All charges of war, and all other expenses that 
shall be incurred for the common defense, or general welfare, and 
allowed by the United States in Congress assembled, shall be de- 
frayed out of a common treasury, which shall be supplied by the 
several states in proportion to the value of all land within each 
state, granted to or surveyed for, any person, as such land and the 
buildings and improvements thereon shall be estimated, according 
to such mode as the United States in Congress assembled, shall 
from time to time, direct and appoint. The taxes for paying that 
proportion shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction 
of the legislatures of the several states, within the time agreed 
upon by the United States in Congress assembled. 

Article IX. The United States in Congress assembled, shall 
have the sole and exclusive right and power, of determining on 
peace and war, except in the cases, mentioned in the sixth article: 
Of sending and receiving embassadors: Entering into treaties and 
alliances; provided that no treaty of commerce shall be made, 
whereby the legislative power of the respective states shall be re- 
strained from imposing such imposts and duties on foreigners as 
their own people are subjected to, or from prohibiting the exporta- 
tion or importation of any species of goods or commodities what- 
ever: Of establishing rules for deciding, in all cases, what capt- 
ures on land or water shall be legal; and in what manner prizes, 
taken by land or naval forces, in the service of the United States, 
shall be divided or appropriated: Of granting letters of marque 
and reprisal in times of peace: Appointing courts for the trial of 
piracies and felonies, committed on the high seas; and establish- 
ing courts, for receiving and determining, finally, appeals in all 
cases of captures; provided, that no member of Congress shall be 
appointed a judge of any of the said courts. 

The United States in Congress assembled shall also be the last 
resort, on appeal, in all disputes and differences now subsisting, 
or that hereafter may arise, between two or more states, concern- 
ing boundary, jurisdiction, or any other cause whatever; which 
authority shall always be exercised in the manner following: 
Whenever the legislative or executive authority, or lawful agent, 
of any state, in controversy with another, shall present a petition 
to Congress, stating the matter in question, and prayii'ig for a 
hearing, notice thereof shall be given, by order of Congress, to the 
legislative or executive authority of the other state in controversy; 
and a day assigned for the appearance of the parties by their law- 
ful agents, who shall then be directed to appoint, by joint consent, 
commissioners or judges, to constitute a court for hearing 
and determining the matter in question; but if they cannot agree. 
Congress shall name three persons, out of each of the United 



APPENDIX. xiii 

States; and from the list of such persons each party shall alter- 
nately strike out one, the petitioners beginning, until the number 
shall be reduced to thirteen; and from that number, not less than 
seven, nor more than nine, names, as Congress shall direct, shall, 
in the presence of Congress, be drawn out, by lot; and the persons 
whose names shall be so drawn, or any five of them, shall be com- 
missioners or judges, to hear and finally determine the contro- 
versy, so always as a major part of the judges, who shall hear the 
cause, shall agree in the determination. And if either party shall 
neglect to attend at the day appointed, without showing reasons 
which Congress shall judge sufficient, or being present shall refuse 
to strike, the Congress shall proceed to nominate three persons 
out of each state; and the secretary of Congress shall strike in be- 
half of such party absent or refusing; and the judgment and sen- 
tence of the court, to be appointed in the manner before prescribed, 
shall be final and conclusive. And if any of the parties shall refuse 
to submit to the authority of such court, or to appear, or defend 
their claim or cause, the court shall, nevertheless, proceed to pro- 
nounce sentence or judgment, which shall in like manner be final 
and decisive; the judgment, or sentence, and other proceedings, 
being in either case, transmitted to Congress, and, lodged among 
the acts of Congress, for the security of the parties concerned: 
Provided that every commissioner, before he sits in judgment, 
shall take an oath, to be administered by one of the judges of the 
supreme or superior court of the state, where the cause shall be 
tried, *' Well and truly to hear and determine the matter in ques- 
tion, according.to the best of his judgment, without favor, affec- 
tion, or hope of reward:" Provided, also, that no state shall be 
deprived of territory for the benefit of the United States. 

All controversies concerning the private right of soil claimed un- 
der different grants of two or more states, whose jurisdiction, as 
they may respect such lands, and the states which passed such grants 
are adjusted, the said grants or either of them being at the same 
time claimed to have originated antecedent to such settlement of 
jurisdiction, shall, on the petition of either party to the Congress 
of the United States, be finally determined, as near as may be, in 
the same manner as is before prescribed for deciding disputes re- 
specting territorial jurisdiction between different states. 

The United States, in Congress assembled, shall have the sole 
and exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and value of 
coin struck by their own authority, or by that of the respective 
states: Fixing the standard of w^eightsand measures throughout the 
United States: Regulating the trade and managing all affairs with 
the Indians, not members of any of the states; provided that the 
legislative right of any state, within its own limits, be not infringed 



XIV 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



or violated: Establishing and regulating post-offices from one state 
to another, throughout all the United States, and exacting such 
postage on the papers passing through the same as may be requi- 
site to defray the expenses of the said office: Appointing all officers 
of the land forces in the service of the United States, excepting 
legimental officers: Appointing all the officers of the naval forces, 
and commissioning all officers whatever in the service of the 
United States: Making rules for the government and regulation of 
the land and naval forces, and directing their operations. 

The United States in Congress assembled shall have authority 
to appoint a committee, to sit in the recess of Congress, to be de- 
nominated A COMMITTEE OF .THE STATES, and to consist of One 
delegate from each state; and to appoint such other committees 
and civil officers as may be necessary for managing the general 
affairs of the United States under their direction: To appoint one 
of their number to preside; provided, that no person be allowed to 
serve in the office of president more than one year in any term of 
three years: To ascertain the necessary surns of money to be 
raised for the service of the United States, and to appropriate and 
apply the same for defraying the public expenses: To borrow 
money, or emit bills on the credit of the United States, transmit- 
ting every half year to the respective states an account of the sums 
of money so borrowed or emitted: To build and equip a navy: To 
agree upon the number of land forces, and to make requisitions 
from each state for its quota, in proportion to the number of 
white inhabitants in such state, which requisition shall be binding; 
and thereupon the legislature of each state shall appoint the regi- 
mental officers, raise the men, and clothe, arm and equip them, in 
a soldier-like manner, at the expense of the United States; and 
the officers and men so clothed,* armed and equipped, shall march 
to the place appointed, and within the time agreed on, by the 
United States in Congress assembled; but if the United States in 
Congress assembled shall, on consideration of circumstances, 
judge proper that any state should not raise men, or should raise a 
smaller number than its quota, and that any other state should raise 
a greater number of men than its quota thereof, such extra number 
shall be raised, officered, clothed, armed and equipped, in the same 
manner as the quota of such state; unless the legislature of such 
state shall judge that such extra number cannot be safely spared 
out of the same; in which case they shall raise, officer, clothe, arm 
and equip, as many of such extra number as they judge can be 
safely spared; and the officers and men so clothed, armed and 
equipped shall march to the place appointed, and within the time 
agreed on, by the United States in Congress assembled. 

The United States in Congress assembled shall never engage in 



APPENDIX. XV 

a war, nor grant letters of marque r.nd reprisal in time of peace, 
nor enter into any treaties or alliances, nor coin money, nor regu- 
late the value thereof, nor ascertain the sums and expenses neces- 
sary for the defense and welfare of the United Stales, or any of 
them, nor emit bills, nor borrow money on the credit of the United 
States, nor appropriate money, nor agree upon the numbers of 
vessels of war to be built or purchased, or the number of land or 
sea forces to be raised, nor appoint a commander-in-chief of the 
army or n.ivy. unless nine states assent to the same; nor shall a 
question on any other point, except for adjourning from day to 
day, be determined, unless by the votes of a majority of the 
United States in Congress assembled. 

The Congress of the United States shall have power to adjourn 
to any time within the year, and to any place within the United 
States, so that no period of adjournment be for a longer duration 
than the space of six months, and shall publish the journal of their 
proceedings monthly, except such pans thereof relating to treaties, 
alliances, or military operations as in their judgment require 
secrecy: and the yeas and nays of the delegates of each state, on 
any question, shall be entered on the journal, when it is desired 
by any delegate; and the delegates of a state, or any of them, at 
his or their request, shall be furnished with a transcript of the said 
journal, except such parts as are above excepted, to lay before the 
legislatures of the several states. 

Article X. The committee of the states, or any nine of them, 
shall be authorized to execute, in the recess of Congress, such of 
the powers of Congress as the United Slates in Congress assem- 
bled, by the consent of nine states, shall, from time to time, think 
expedient to vest them with; provided that no power be delegated 
to the said committee, for the exercise of which, by the Articles of 
Confederation, the voice of nine states, in the Congress of the 
United States assembled, is requisite. 

Article XI. Canada, acceding to this Confederation, and 
joining in the measures of the United States, shall be admitted 
into and entitled to all the advantages of this Union; but no other 
colony shall be admitted into the same unless such admission be 
agreed to by nme states. 

Article XII. All bills of credit emitted, moneys borrowed, and 
debts contracted by or under the authority of Congress, before 
the assembling of the United States, in pursuance of the present 
Confederation, shall be deemed and considered as a charge against 
the United States, for payment and satisfaction whereof the said 
United States and the public faith are hereby solemnly pledged. 

Article XIII. Every state shall abide by the determinations 
of the United States in Congress assembled, on all questions 



xvi HISTOR V OF THE UNITED STA TES. 

which, by this Confederation, are submitted to them. And the 
Articles of this Confederation shall be inviolably observed by 
every state; and the Union shall be perpetual. Nor shall any 
alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them, unless 
such alteration be agreed to, in a Congress of the United StaLes, 
and be afterward confirmed by the legislatures of every state. 

And whereas, it hath pleased the great Governor of the world to 
incline the hearts of the legislatures we respectively represent in 
Congress, to approve of, and to authorize us to ratify, the said 
Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union: 

K\ovv Ye, That we, the undersigned delegates, by virtue of 
the power and authority to us given for that purpose, do, by tliese 
presents, in the name, and in behalf, of our respective consiitu- 
enls, fully and entirely ratify and confirm each and every of the 
said Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, and all and 
singular the matters and things therein contained. And we do 
further solemnly plight and engage the faith of our respective con- 
stituents, that they shall abide by the determinations of the United 
States in Congress assembled, on all questions, which, by the 
said Confederation, are submitted to them; and that the articles 
thereof shall be inviolably observed by the states we respectively 
represent; and that the Union shall be perpetual. 

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands in Congress, 

Done at Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, the ninth 
day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred 
and seventy-eight, and in the third year of the Independence of 
America. 

[Here follow the signatures of the delegates from New Hamp- 
shire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Dela- 
ware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and 
Georgia. Forty-eight in all.] 



APPENDIX. xvii 



APPENDIX D. 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED 
STATES OF AMERICA 

PREAMBLE. 

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more per- 
lect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, pro- 
vide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, 
and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our pos- 
terity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the 
United States of America. 

ARTICLE I. 

SECTION I. 

All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Con- 
gress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and 
House of Representatives, 

SECTION II. 

1st Clause. The House of Representatives shall be composed of 
members chosen every second year by the people of the several 
states, and the electors in each state shall have the qualifications 
requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state 
legislature. 

id Clause. No person shall be a representative who shall not 
have attained to the age of tv/enty-five years, and been seven 
years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when 
elected, be an inhabitant of that state in which he shall be chosen. 

yi Clause. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned 
among the several states which may be included within this Union, 



xviii HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined 
by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those 
bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not 
taxed, three-fiflhs of all other persons.* The actual enumeration 
shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Con- 
gress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of 
ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The num- 
ber of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thou- 
sand, but each state shall have at least one representative; and 
until such enumeration shall be made, the state of New Hampshire 
shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode 
Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five. New 
York six. New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, 
Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five. South Carolina 
five, and Georgia three. 

4//z Clause. When vacancies happen in the representation from' 
any state, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of 
election to fill such vacancies. 

5M Clause. The House of Representatives shall choose their 
speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power of im- 
peachment. 

SECTION III. 

\st Clause. The Senate of the United States shall be composed 
of two senators from each state, chosen by the legislature thereof, 
for six years; and each senator shall have one vote. 

2d Clause. Immediately after they shall be assembled in conse- 
quence of the first election, they shall be divided as equally as may 
be into three classes. The seats of the senators of the first class 
shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the second 
class at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at 
the expiration of the sixth year, so that one-third may be chosen 
every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or 
otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of any state, the 
executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the 
next meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies. 

3(^/ Clause. No person shall be a senator who shall not have 
attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of 
the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhab- 
itant of that state for which he shall be chosen. 

\th Clause. The vice-president of the United States shall be 
president of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be 
equally divided. 

*Altered by the Fourteenth Amendment, Section II. 



APPENDIX. xix 

t^tJi Clatise. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and 
also a president pro tempore, in the absence of the vice-president, 
or when he shall exercise the office cf president of the United 
States. 

t)th Clause. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all im- 
peachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall all be on 
oath or affirmation. When the president of the United States is 
tried, the chief-justice shall preside; and no person shall be con- 
victed without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present. 

1th Clause. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not ex- 
tend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to 
hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the 
United Stales; but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable 
and subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, ac- 
cording to law. 

SECTION IV. 

1st Clause. The times, places, and manner of holding elections 
for senators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each state 
by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by 
law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of 
choosing senators. 

2d Cla7ise. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every 
year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, 
unless they shall by law appoint a different day. 

SECTION V. 

1st Clause. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, re- 
turns, and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of 
each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller num- 
ber may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to com- 
pel the attendance of absent members, in such manner and under 
such penalties as each house may provide. 

2d Clause. Each house may determine the rules of its proceed- 
ings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the 
concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member. 

3^ Clause. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, 
and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as 
may in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of 
the members of either house on any question, shall, at the desire 
of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal. 

4M Clause. Neither house, during the session of Congress shall, 
without the consent of the other adjourn for more than three days, 
nor to any other place than that in which the two houses shall be 
sitting. 



XX HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

SECTION VI. 

\st Clatise. The senators and representatives shall receive a 
compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and 
paid out of the treasury of the United States. They shall, in 
all cases, except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privi- 
leged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their 
respective houses, and in going to and returning from the same; 
and for any speech or debate in either house, they shall not be 
questioned in any other place. 

id Clause, No senator or representative shall, during the time 
for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the 
authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or 
the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such 
time; and no person holding any olfice under the United States, 
shall be a member of either house during his continuance in office. 

SECTION VII. 

-ist Claiise. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the 
House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur 
with amendments as on other bills. 

id Clause. Every bill which shall have passed the House of 
Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be 
presented to the president of the United States; if he approve he 
shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections, to 
that house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the 
objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. 
If after such reconsideration two-thirds of that house shall agree 
to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the 
other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if ap- 
proved by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in all 
such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and 
nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the 
bill shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If 
any bill shall not be returned by the president within ten days 
(Sundays excepted) ^-i^er it shall have been presented to him, the 
same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless 
the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which 
case it shall not be a law. 

"id Clause. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the con- 
currence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be 
necessary (except on a question' of adjournment) shall be pre- 
sented to the president of the United States; and before the same 
shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved 
by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate and House 



ATPENDIX. xxi 

of Representatives, according to the rules and nmit2.tions pre- 
scribed in the case of a bill, 

SECTION VIII. 

The Congress shall have power — 

ij,-^ Clause. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and ex- 
cises, to pay the debts and provide for the common delense and 
general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts, and 
excises shall be uniform throughout th-? United Stales; 

2d Clause. To borrow money on the credit of the United States; 

3^ Clause. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and 
among the several states, and with the Indian tribes; 

4//z Clause. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and 
uniform laws on the subject of bankriiptcies throughout the 
United States; 

5//^ Clause. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of 
foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures; 

bth Clause. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the 
securities and current coin of the United States; 

lih Clause. To establish post-offices and post-roads; 

8M Clause. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, 
by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclu- 
sive right to their respective writings and discoveries; 

i)th Clause, To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme 
court; 

\oth Clause. To define and punish piracies and felonies com- 
mitted on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations; 

wtk Clause. To declare war, grant letters of marque and re- 
prisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water; 

\ith Clause. To raise and support armies; but no appropriation 
of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years; 

I'^th Claiise. To provide and maintain a navy; 

i^th Clause. To make rules for the government and regulation 
of the land and naval forces; 

i^th Clause. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute 
the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel inva- 
sions; 

i6//z Clause. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplin- 
ing the militia, and for governing such part of them as maybe 
employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the 
states respectively the appointment of the officers, and tiie author- 
ity of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed 
by Congress; 

l']th Clause. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases what- 
soever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may. 



xxii HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, 
become the sea'i of the government of the United States; and to 
exercise like authority over all places purchased Dy the consent of 
the legislature of the state in which the same shall be. for the 
erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other 
needful buildings; — and 

I8//^ Clazise. To make all laws which shall be necessary and 
proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all 
other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the 
United States, or in any department or officer thereof. 

SECTION IX. 

\st Clause. The migration or importation of such persons as 
any of the states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall 
not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand 
eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on 
such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person. 

id Clause. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not 
be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the 
public safety may require it. 

yi Clause. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be 
passed. 

4//^ Clause. No capitation, or other direct tax shall be laid, 
unless in proportion to the census or enumeration herein before 
directed to be taken. 

^th Clause. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported 
from any slate. 

6//z Clause. No preference shall be given by any regulation of 
commerce or revenue to the ports of one state over those of an- 
other; nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one state, be obliged to 
enter, clear, or pay duties in another. 

7M Clause. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in 
consequence of appropriations made by lav/; and a regular state- 
ment and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public 
money shall be published from time to time. 

8//; Clause. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United 
States; and no person holding any office of profit or trust under 
them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any 
present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from 
any king, prince, or foreign state. 

SECTION X. 

1st Clatise. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or 
confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; 
emit bills of credit; make any thing but gold and silver coin a 



APPENDIX. 



xxui 



tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post 
facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant 
any title of nobility. 

id Clause. No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, 
lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may 
be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws; and the 
net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any state on imports 
or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States; 
and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of 
the Congress. 

3^ Clause. No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay 
any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of 
peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another state, or 
with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, 
or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. 

ARTICLE II. 

SECTION I. 

1st Clause, The executive power shall be vested in a president 
of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during 
the term of four years, and, together with the vice-president, 
chosen for the same term, be elected as follows: 

2d Clause. Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the legis- 
lature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole 
number of senators and representatives to which the state may be 
entitled in the Congress; but no senator or representative, or per- 
son holding an office of trust*" or profit under the United States, 
shall be appointed an elector. 

^2>d Clause, The electors shall meet in their respective states, 
and vote by ballot for two persons, one of whom, at least, shall 
not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves. And they 
shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of 
votes for each; which list they shall sign and certify, and trans- 
mit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, 
directed to the president of the Senate. The president of the Sen- 
ate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives, open all the certificates; and the votes shall then be counted. 
The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the presi- 
dent, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors 
appointed; and if there be more than one who have such majority, 
and have an equal number of votes, then the House of Reprcsent- 

*This clause has been superseded by the Twelfth Amendment. 



xxiv HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

atives shall immediately choose, by ballot, one of them for presi- 
dent; and if no person have a majority, then, from the five highest 
on the list, the said house shall, in like manner, choose the presi- 
dent. But, in choosing the president, the votes shall be taken by 
states; the representation from each state having one vote; a 
quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members 
from two-thirds of the states; and a majority of all the states shall 
be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of presi- 
dent, the person having the greatest number of votes of the elect- 
ors shall be vice-president. But, if there should remain two or 
more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them, by 
ballot, the vice-president. 

t\th Clause. The Congress may determine the time of choosing 
the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes; 
which day shall be the same throughout the United States. 

^th CImisc. No person except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen 
of the United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitu- 
tion, shall be eligible to the office of president; neither shall any 
person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the 
age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within 
the United States. 

i)th Clause. In case of the removal of the president from office, 
or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers 
and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the vice- 
president; and the Congress may by law provide for the case of 
removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the president and 
vice-president, declaring what officer shall then act as president, 
and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be re- 
moved, or a president shall be elected. 

']//] Clause. The president shall, at stated times, receive for his 
services a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor 
diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected, 
and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument 
from the United States, or any of them. 

?>ih Clause. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he 
shall take the following oath or affirmation: 

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute 
the office of president of the United States, and will, to the best of 
my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the 
United States." 

SECTION II. 

\st Clause. The president shall be commander-in-chief of the 
army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the sev- 
eral states, when called into the actual service of the United States; 



APPENDIX. XXV 

he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in 
each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to 
the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to 
grant reprieves and pardons lor offenses against the United States, 
except in cases of irapeachmeiit. 

2.d Clause. He shall have power, by and with the advice and 
consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the 
senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with 
the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, 
other public ministers and consuls, judges of the supreme court, 
and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments 
are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be estab- 
lished by law: but the Congress may bylaw vest the appointment 
of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the president 
alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments. 

yi Clause. The president shall have power to fill up all vacancies 
that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting 
commissions, which shall expire at the end of their next session. 

SECTION III. 

He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of 
the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such 
measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on 
extraordinary occasions, convene both houses, or eiiher of them, 
and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the 
time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall 
think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public min- 
isters; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and 
shall commission all the officers of the United States. 

SECTION IV. 

The president, vice-president, and all civil officers of the United 
States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and con- 
viction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misde- 
meanors. 

ARTICLE HI. 

SECTION I. 

The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one 
supreme court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may 
from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the 
supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good 
behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a 



xxvi HI STORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continu- 
ance in office. 

SECTION II. 

\st Clause. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law 
and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United 
States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their 
authority; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public minis- 
ters, and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdic- 
tion; to controversies to which the United States shall be a party; 
to controversies between two or more states; between a state and 
citizens of another state; between citizens of different states; be- 
tween citizens of the same state claiming lands under grants of 
different states, and between a state, or the citizens thereof, and 
foreign states, citizens, or subjects. 

id Clause, In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public min- 
isters and consuls, and those in which a state shall be a party, the 
supreme court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other 
cases before mentioned, the supreme court shall have appellate 
jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions and 
under such regulations as the Congress shall make. 

yi Clause. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeach- 
ment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held .in the state 
where the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not 
committed within any state, the trial shall be at such place or 
places as the Congress may by law have directed. 

SECTION III. 

\st Clause. Treason against the United States shall consist only 
in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giv- 
ing them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of trea- 
son unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt 
act, or on confession in open court. 

2d Clause. The Congress shall have power to declare the pun- 
ishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work cor- 
ruption of blood, or forfeiture except during the life of the person 
attainted. 

ARTICLE IV. 

SECTION I. 

Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public 
acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. And 
the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which 



APPENDIX, xxvii 

such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect 
thereof. 

SECTION II. 

\st Clause. The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all 
privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states. 

id Clause, A person charged in any state with treason, felony, 
or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in an- 
other state, shall on demand of the executive authority of the 
state from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the 
state having jurisdiction of t-he crime. 

yi CJatisc. No person held to service or labor in one state, under 
the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of 
any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or 
labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom 
such service or labor may be due. 

SECTION III. 

\st Clause. New states may be admitted by the Congress into 
this Union; but no new state shall be formed or erected within the 
jurisdiction of any other state; nor any state be formed by the 
junction of two or more states, or parts of states, without the con- 
sent of the legislatures of the states concerned as well as of the 
Congress. 

2d Clause. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and 
make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or 
other property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this 
Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of 
the United States, or of any particular state, 

SECTION IV, 

The United States shall guarantee to every state in this Union 
a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them 
against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the 
executive (when the legislature cannot be convened), against do- 
mestic violence, 

ARTICLE V. 

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem 
it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, 
on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several 
states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, 
in either case, shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as part 



xxviii HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three- 
fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three-fourths 
thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be pro- 
posed by the Congress: provided that no amendment which may 
be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight 
shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth 
section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent, 
shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. 

ARTICLE VI. 

<« 

1st Clause. All debts contracted and engagements entered into, 
before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against 
the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confeder- 
ation. 

2d Clause. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States 
which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, 
or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, 
shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every 
state shall be bound thereby, any thing in the Constitution or laws 
of any state to the contrary notwithstanding, 

3^ Clause. The senators and representatives before mentioned, 
and the members of the several state legislatures, and all execu- 
tive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the 
several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support 
this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a 
qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. 

ARTICLE VII, 

The ratification of the conventions of nine states, shall be suf- 
ficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the states 
so ratifying the same. 

Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states 
present, the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America the twelfth. In 
witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON, 

President and Deputy from Virginia. 

Ne7v Hampshire. — John Langdon, Nicholas Oilman, 
Massachusetts. — Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King. 



APPENDIX. xxix 

Connecticut. — William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman 

New Yo7-k. — Alexander Hamilton, 

New Jersey. — William Livingston, David Bearly, William Pat- 
terson, Jonathan Dayton. 

Pennsylvania. — Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robert 
Morris, George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimons, Jared Ingersoll, 
James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris. 

Delaware. — George Read, Gunning Bedford. Jr., John Dickin- 
son, Richard Bassett, Jacob Broom. 

Maryland. — James McHenry, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, 
Daniel Carroll. 

Virginia. — John Blair, James Madison, Jr. 

N'orth Carolina. — William Blount, Richard DobbsSpaight, Hugh 
Williamson. 

South Carolina. — John Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, 
Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler. 

Geoygia. — William Few, Abraham Baldwin. 

Attest: William Jackson, Secretary, 



Amendments to the Constitution. 

PROPOSED BY CONGRESS AND RATIFIED BY THE LEGISLATURES 
OF THE SEVERAL STATES. 

ARTICLE L 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of re^ 
ligion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the 
freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people 
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a rcr 
dress of grievances. 

ARTICLE II. 

A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free 
state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be 
infringed. 

ARTICLE III. 

No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house 



XXX HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in a 
manner to be prescribed by law, 

ARTICLE IV. 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, 
shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon prob- 
able cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly de- 
scribing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be 
seized. 

ARTICLE v.* 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise 
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand 
jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the 
militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; 
nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice 
put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any 
criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of 
life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor shall 
private property be taken for public use without just compensa- 
tion. 

ARTICLE VI. 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right 
to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the state and 
district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which dis- 
trict shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be in- 
formed of the eature and cause of the accusation; to be con- 
fronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory proc- 
ess for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assist- 
ance of counsel for his defense. 

ARTICLE VII. 

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall 
exceed tvventy dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, 
and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any 
court of the United States than according to the rules of the com- 
mon law. 

ARTICLE VIII. 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines im- 
posed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 



APPENDIX. xxxi' 

ARTICLE IX. 

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not 
be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 

ARTICLE X. 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitu- 
tion, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states 
respectively, or to the people. 

ARTICLE XI. 

The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed 
to extend to any suit, in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted 
against one of the United States by citizens of another state, or by 
citizens or subjects of any foreign state. 

ARTICLE XII. 

The electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by 
ballot for president and vice-president, one of whom, at least, 
shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themsoives; they 
.shall name in their ballots the person voted for as president, and 
in distinct ballots the person voted for as vice-president, and they 
shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as president, and 
of all persons voted for as vice-president, and of the number of 
votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and trans- 
mit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, 
directed to the president of the Senate. The president of the Sen- 
ate shall, in presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, 
open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted; the 
person having the greatest number of votes for president, shall be 
the president, if such number be a majority of the whole number 
of electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then 
from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three 
on the list of those voted for as president, the House of Repre- 
sentatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the president. But 
in choosing the president, the votes shall be taken by states, the 
representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this 
purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of 
the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a 
choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a 
president whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, 
before the fourth day of March next following, then the vice presi- 
dent shall act as president, as in the case of the death or other 



constitutional disability of the president. The person having the 
greatest number of votes as vice-president, shall be the vice-presi- 
dent, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors 
appointed; and if no person have a majority., then from the two 
highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the vice-presi- 
dent: a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the 
whole number of senators, and a majority of the whole number 
shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally in- 
eligible to the office of president shall be eligible to that of vice- 
president of the United States. 

ARTICLE XIII. 

Section I. — Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except 
as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly 
convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place sub- 
ject to their jurisdiction. 

Sec. II. — Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
appropriate legislation. 

ARTICLE XIV. 

Section I. — All persons born or naturalized in the United 
States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the 
United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state 
shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges 
or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any stale 
deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due proc- 
ess of law, nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal 
protection of the laws. 

Sec. II. — Representatives shall be apportioned among the sev- 
eral states according to their respective numbers, counting the 
whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not 
taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice 
of electors for president and vicG»president of the United Slates, 
representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of 
a state, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied lo any 
of the male inhabitants of such state, being twenty-one years of 
age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except 
for participation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of repre- 
sentation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the 
number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of 
male citizens twenty-one years of age in such state. 

Sec. III. — No person shall be a senator or representative in 
Congress, or elector of president and vice-president, or hold any 
office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any 



APPENDIX. xxxiii 

state., who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of 
Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of 
any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any 
state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have 
engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid 
or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote 
of two-thirds of each house, remove such disability. 

Sec. IV. — The validity of the public debt of the United States, 
authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pen- 
sions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or re- 
bellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States 
nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred 
in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any 
claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, 
obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void. 

Sec. V. — The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appro- 
priate legislation, the provisions of this article. 

ARTICLE XV. 

Section I. — The right of citizens of the United States to vote 
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any 
state, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servi- 
tude. 

Sec. II. — The Congress shall have power to enforce this article 
by appropriate legislation. 



xxxiv HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 



APPENDIX E. 



THE FAREWELL ADDRESS OF GEORGE 
WASHINGTON, 

FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 

ON HIS DECLINING A SECOND RE-ELECTION. 



Friends and Fellow-Citizens — 

The period for a new election of a citizen to administer the ex- 
ecutive government of the United States being not far distant, and 
the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in 
designating the person who is to be clothed with that important 
trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a 
more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now ap- 
prize you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being consid- 
ered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be 
made. 

1 beg you at the same time to do me the justice to be assured 
that this resolution has not bren taken without a strict regard to 
all the considerations appertaining to tlie relation which binds a 
dutiful citizen to his country; and that in withdrawing the tender 
of service which silence in my situation might imply, I am influ- 
enced by no diminution of zeal for your future interest; no defi- 
ciency of grateful respect for your past kindness; but am supported 
by a full conviction that the step is compatible with both. 

The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in the office to 
which your suffrages have twice called me, have been a uniform 
sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty, and to a deference 
for what appeared to be your desire. I constantly hoped that it 
would have been much earlier in my power, consistently with 
motives which I was not at liberty to disregard, to return to that 



APPENDIX, XXXV 

retirement from which I had been reluctantly drawn. The 
strength of my inclination to do this previous to the last election, 
had even led to the preparation of an address to declare it to you; 
but mature reflection on the then perplexed and critical posture of 
our affairs with foreign nations, and the unanimous advice of per- 
sons entitled to my confidence, impelled me to abandon the idea. 

I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well as in- 
ternal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination' incompatible 
with the sentiment of duty or propriety; and am persuaded, what- 
ever partiality may be retained for my services, that in the present 
circumstances of our country, you will not disapprove of my de- 
termination to retire. 

The impressions with which I first undertook the arduous trust 
were explained on the proper occasion. In the discharge of this 
trust, I will only say, that I have with good intentions contributed 
toward the organization and administration of the government the 
best exertions of which a very fallible judgment v/as capable. 
Not unconscious, in the outset, of the inferiority of any qualifica- 
tions, experience in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes 
of others, has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself; 
and every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me 
more and more, that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me 
as it will be welcome. Satisfied that if any circumstances have 
given peculiar value to my services, they were temporary, I have 
the consolation to believe, that while choice and prudence invite 
me to quit the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it. 

In looking forward to the moment which is intended to termi- 
nate the career of my public life, my feelings do not permit me to 
suspend the deep acknowledgment of that debt of gratitude which 
I owe to my beloved country, for the many honors it has con- 
ferred upon me; still more for the steadfast confidence with which 
it has supported me; and for the opportunities I have^ thence en- 
joyed of manifesting my inviolable attachment, by services faithful 
and persevering, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. If 
benefits have resulted to our country from these services, let it al- 
ways be remembered to your praise, and as an instructive ex- 
ample in our annals, that under circumstances in which the pas- 
sions, agitated in every direction, were liable to mislead, amidst 
appearances sometimes dubious — vicissitudes of fortune often dis- 
couraging — in situations in which not unfrequently want of success 
has countenanced the spirit of criticism — the constancy of your 
support was the essential prop of the efforts, and a guaranty of the 
plans by which they were effected. Profoundly penetrated with 
this idea, I shall carry it with me to my grave, as a strong incite 
ment to unceasing wishes that Heaven may continue to you the 



xxxvi HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

choicest tokens of its beneficence — that your union and brotherly 
affection may be perpetual — that the free constitution which is the 
\vorl< of your hands may be sacredly maintained — that its admin- 
istration in every department may be stamped with wisdom and 
virtue — that, in fine, the happiness of the people of these states, 
under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete, by so care- 
ful a preservation, and so prudent a use of this blessing, as will ac- 
quire to them the glory of recommending it to the-applause, the 
affection, and adoption of every nation which is yet a stranger 
to it. 

Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your wel- 
fare, which cannot end but with my life, and the apprehension of 
danger, natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like the 
present, to offer to your solemn contemplation, and to recommend 
to your frequent review, some sentiments, which are the result of 
much reflection, of no inconsiderable observation, and which ap- 
pear to me all-important to the permanency of your felicity as a 
people. These will be offered to you with the more freedom, as 
you can only see in them the disinterested warnings of a parting 
friend, who can possibly have no personal motive to bias his 
counsel. Nor can I forget, as an encouragement to it, your in- 
dulgent reception of my sentiments on a former and not dissimilar 
occasion. 

Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your 
hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or con- 
firm the attachment. 

The unity of government which constitutes you one people, is 
also now dear to you. It is justly so; for it is a main pillar in the 
edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility 
at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; 
of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to 
foresee that from different causes and from different quarters, 
much pains will be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in 
your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your 
political fortress against which the batteries of internal and ex- 
ternal enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often 
covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment that 
you should properly estimate the immense value of your national 
Union, to your collective and individual happiness; that you should 
cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; ac- 
customing yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium 
of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preserva- 
tion with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may sug- 
gest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned; and 
indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to 



APPENDIX. xxxvii 

alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble 
the sacred ties which now link together the various parts. 

For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. 
Citizens by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has 
a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, 
which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exl 
alt the just pride of patriotism, more than any appellation derived 
from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you 
have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. 
You have in a comm.on cause fought and triumphed together; the 
Independence and Liberty you possess are the work of joint coun- 
cils and joint efforts, of common dangers, sufferings, and suc- 
cesses. 

But these considerations, however powerfully they address 
themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those 
which apply more immediately to your interest. Here every por- 
tion of our country finds the most commanding motives for care- 
fully guarding and preserving the union of the whole. 

The A'orth, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South, pro- 
tected by the equal laws of a common government, finds in the 
productions of the latter great additional resources of maritime 
and commercial enterprise and precious materials of manufactur- 
ing industry. The South, in the same intercourse, benefiting by 
the agency of the North, sees its agriculture grow and its com- 
merce expand. Turning partly into its own channels the seamen 
of the A\'>rth, it finds its particular navigation invigorated; and 
while it contributes, in different ways, to nourish and increase the 
general mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to the 
protection of a maritime strength, to which itself is unequally 
adapted. The Kast, in a like intercourse with the West, already 
finds, and in the progressive improvement of interior communica- 
tions, by land and water, will more and more find a valuable vent 
for the commodities which it brings from abroad or manufactures 
at home. The ]Vest derives from the East supplies requisite to its 
growth and comfort — and what is perhaps of still greater conse- 
quence, it must of necessity owe the j-tr«;v enjoyment of indispen- 
sable outlets for its own productions to the weight, influence, and 
the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, 
directed by an indissoluble community of interest as one nation. 
Any other tenure by which the West can hold this essential ad- 
vantage, whether derived from its own separate strength, or from 
an apostate and unnatural connection with any foreign power, 
must be intrinsically precarious. 

While then every part of our country thus feels the immediate 
and particular interest in union, all the parts combined cannot 



XXXVUl 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



fail to find in the united mass of means and efforts, greater 
strength, greater resource, proportionably greater security from 
external danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace by 
foreign nations; and what is of inestim.able value, they must de- 
rive from union an exemption from those broils and wars be- 
tween themselves, which so frequently afflict neighboring coun- 
tries, not tied together by the same government; which their own 
rivalship alone would be sufficient to produce, but which opposite 
fureign alliances, attachments, and intrigues would stimulate and 
embitter. Hence likewise they will avoid the necessity of those 
overgrown military establishments, which under any form of 
government are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be re- 
garded as particularly hostile to Republican Liberty. In this 
sense it is, that your Union ought to be considered as the main 
prop of your liberty, and that the love of the one ought to endear 
to you the preservation of the other. 

These considerations speak a persuasive language to every re- 
flecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the 
Union as a primary object of patriotic desire. Is there a doubt 
whether a common government can embrace so large a sphere? 
Let experience solve it. To listen to mere speculation in such a 
case were criminal. We are authorized to hope that a proper or- 
ganization of the whole, with the auxiliary agency of governments 
for the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue to the 
experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With 
such powerful and obvious motives to union, affecting all parts 
of our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its 
impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the patriot- 
ism of those, who in any quarter may endeavor to weaken its 
bands. 

In contemplating the causes which may disturb our union, it oc- 
curs as matter of serious concern, that any ground should have been 
furnished for characterizing parties by geographical discrimina- 
tions — Northern z.n^ Southern — Atlantic dsxdi Western; whence de- 
signing men may endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real 
difference of local interests and views. One of the expedients of 
party to acquire influence, within particular districts, is to mis- 
represent the opinions and aims of other districts. You cannct 
shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heart-burn- 
ings which spring from these misrepresentations; they tend lo 
render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together 
by fraternal affection. The inhabitants of our western country 
have lately had a useful lesson on this head; they have seen, in 
the negotiatiotfi by the Executive, and in the unanimous ratifica- 
tion by the Senate, of the treaty with Spain, and the universal 



APPENDIX. xxxix 

satisfaction at the event throughout the United States, a decisive 
proof how unfounded were the suspicions propagated among 
them of a policy in the general government, and in the Atlantic 
States, unfriendly to their interests in regard to the Mississii-Pi: 
they have been witnesses to the formation of two treaties, that 
with Great Britain and that with Spain, which secure to them 
every thing they could desire, in respect to our foreign relations, 
toward confirming their prosperity. Will it not be their wisdom 
to rely for the preservation of these advantages on the Union by 
which they were procured ? Will they not henceforth be deaf to 
those advisers, if such there are, who would sever them from their 
brethren, and connect them with aliens ? 

To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a Government 
for the whole is indispensable. No alliances, however strict, be- 
tween the parts can be an adequate substitute;- they must inevi- 
tably experience the infractions and interruptions which all alli- 
ances in all times have experienced. Sensible of this momentous 
truth, you have improved upon your first essay, by the adoption of 
a Constitution of Government better calculated than your former 
for an intimate Union, and for the efficacious management of your 
common concerns. This Government, the offspring of your own 
choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation 
and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the 
distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and con- 
taining within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a 
just claim to your confidence and your support. Respect for its 
authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, 
are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true liberty. 
The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to 
make, and to alter their Constitutions of Government. But the 
Constitution which at anytime exists, until changed by an explicit 
and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon 
all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to es- 
tablish Government, presupposes the duty of every individual to 
obey the established Government. 

All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations 
and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real 
design to direct, control, counteract or awe the regular delibera- 
tion and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of 
this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to 
organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force — 
to put in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a 
party, often a small but ariful and enterprising minority of the 
community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different 
parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill- 



Xl HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. 

concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the 
organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common 
councils and modified by mutual interests. 

However combinations or associations of the above description 
may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the 
course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which 
cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men w^ill be enabled to sub- 
vert the power of the people, and to usurp for themselves the 
reins of government; destroying afterward the very engines which 
have lifted them to unjust dominion. 

Toward the preservation of your government, and the perma- 
nency of your present happy state, it is requisite, not only that you 
steadily discountenance irregular oppositions to its acknowledged 
authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation 
upon its principles, however specious the pretexts. One method 
of assault may be to effect in the form of the Constitution altera- 
tions which will impair the energy of the system, and thus to 
undermine what cannot be directly overthrown. In all the 
changes to which you maybe invited, remember that time and 
habit are at least as necessary to fix the true character of govern- 
ments, as of other human institutions; that experience is the surest 
standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing consti- 
tution of a country — that facility in changes upon the credit of 
mere hypothesis and opinion, exposes to perpetual change from 
the endless variety of hypothesis and opinion; and remember, es- 
pecially, that for the efficient management of your common inter- 
ests, in a country so extensive as ours, a government of as much 
vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty, is indis- 
pensable. Liberty itself will find in such a government, with 
powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It 
is, indeed, little else than a name, where the government is too 
feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine each 
member of the society within the limits prescribed by the laws, 
and to maintain ail in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the 
rights of person and property. 

I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the 
state, v/ith particular reference to the founding of them on geo- 
graphical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehen- 
sive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the 
baneful effects of the spirit of party, generally. 

This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, hav- 
ing its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It ex- 
ists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, 
controlled, or repressed; but in those of the popular form, it is 
seen in greatest rankness, and it is truly their worst enemy. 



APPENDIX. xli 

The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened 
by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in dif- 
ferent ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormi- 
ties, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a 
more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and mis- 
eries which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek 
security and repose in the absolute power of an individual, and 
sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or 
more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the 
purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty. 

Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which 
nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and 
continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make 
it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and re- 
strain it. 

It serves always to distract the public councils, and enfeeble the 
public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded 
jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part 
against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It 
opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a 
facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of 
party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are 
subjected to the policy and will of another. There is an opinion 
that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the adminis- 
tration of government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. 
This within certain limits is probably true; and m governments of 
a monarchical cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with 
favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular charac- 
ter, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be en- 
couraged. From their natural tendency it is certain there will 
always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And 
there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be, by 
ff^rce of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to 
be quenched, it demands uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting 
into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume. 

It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking, in a free 
country, should inspire caution in those intrusted with its adminis- 
tration, to confine themselves within their respective constitutional 
spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department 
to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to 
consolidate the powers of all departments in one, and thus to 
create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A 
just estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, 
which predominates in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us 
of the truth of this position. The necessity of reciprocal checks in 



xlii HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into 
different depositories, and constituting each the guardian of the 
public weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced by 
experiments ancient and modern; some of them in our country 
and under our own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary 
as to institute them. If, in the opinion of the people, the distri- 
bution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any par- 
ticular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way 
which the Constitution designates. But let there be no change by 
usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instru- 
ment of good, it is the customary v/eapon by which free govern- 
ments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly over- 
balance in permanent evil any partial or transient benefit which 
the use can at any time yield. 

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political pros- 
perity. Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In 
vain would that man claim the tributes of Patriotism, who should 
labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firm- 
est props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, 
equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. 
A volume could not trace all their connections with private and 
public felicity. Let it simply be asked, where is the security for 
property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obliga- 
tion desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in 
courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition 
that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may 
be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of pe- 
culiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect 
that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious prin- 
ciple. 

It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary 
spring of popular government. The rule indeed extends with 
more or less force to every species of free government. Who that 
is a sincere friend to it, can look with indifference upon attempts 
to shake the foundation of the fabric? 

Promote then, as an object of primary importance, institutions 
for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the 
structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essen- 
tial that public opinion should be enlightened. 

As a very important source of strength and security, cherish 
public credit. One method of preserving it, is to use it as spar- 
ingly as possible — avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating 
peace; but remember also that timely disbursements to prepare 
for danger, frequently prevent much greater disbursements to re- 
pel it; avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by 



APPENDIX. xliii 

shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time 
of peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars may have 
occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden 
which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution of these max- 
ims belongs to your Representatives, but it is necessary that pub- 
lic opinion should co-operate. To facilitate to them the perform- 
ance of their duty, it is essential that you should practically bear 
in mind, that toward the payment of debts there must be revenue; 
that to have revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be de- 
vised which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant; 
that the intrinsic embarrassment inseparable from the selection of 
the proper objects (which is always a choice of difficulties) ought to 
be a decisive motive for a candid construction of the conduct of 
the government in making it, and for a spirit of acquiescence in the 
measures for obtaining revenue Avhich the public exigencies may 
at any time dictate. 

Observe good faith and justice toward all nations, cultivate 
peace and harmony with all: religion and morality enjoin this 
conduct; and can it be that good policy does not equally enjoin 
it? It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and, at no distant 
period, a great nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and 
too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice 
and benevolence. Who can doubt but in the course of tim.e and 
things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary 
advantage which might be lost by a steady adherence to it ? Can 
it be, that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity 
of a nation with its virtue? The experiment, at least, is recom- 
mended by every sentiment which ennobles human nature, Alas! 
is it rendered impossible by its vices? 

In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than 
that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, 
and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and 
that in place of them just and amicable feelings toward all should 
be cultivated. The nation Vi'hich indulges toward another an 
habitual hatred or an habitual fondness, is in some degree a slave. 
It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either ot which is 
sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antip- 
athy in one nation against another, disposes each more readily to 
offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, 
and to be haughty and intractable, when accidental or trifling oc- 
casions of dispute occur. Hence frequent collisions, obstinate, 
envenomed, and bloody contests. The nation, prompted by ill- 
will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the government, 
contrary to the best calculations of policy. The government 
sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts 



xliv HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

through passion what reason would reject; at other times, it 
makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hos- 
tility instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and per- 
nicious motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, 
of nations has been the victim. 

So, likevvise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another 
produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, 
facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases 
where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the 
enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in 
the quarrels and wars of the latter, without adequate inducement 
or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation 
of privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure the 
nation making the concessions, by unnecessarily parting with 
what ought to have been retained; and by exciting jealousy, ill- 
will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom 
equal privileges are withheld. And it gives to ambitious, cor- 
rupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite 
nation) facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own 
country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity; gilding 
with the appearance of a virtuous sense of obligation a commend- 
able deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public 
good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or 
infatuation. 

As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such at- 
tachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and 
independent patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to 
tamper with domestic factions; to practice the arts of sedition, to 
mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils! 
Such an attachment of a small or weak, toward a great and pow- 
erful nation, dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter. 
Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to 
believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to 
h& co)istaiitIy SiViSi^G:; since history and experience prove that for- 
eign influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican Gov- 
ernment. But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial; else 
it becomes the instrumicnt of the very influence to be avoided, in- 
stead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign 
nation, and excessive dislike of another, cause those whom they 
actuate to see danger only on on^ side, and serve to veil and even 
second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots, who may 
resist the intrigues of the favorite, are liable to become suspected 
and odious; while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and con- 
fidence of the people, to surrender their interest. 

The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, 



APPENDIX. xlv 

is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as 
little political connection as possible. So far as we have already- 
formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. 
Here let us stop. 

Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, 
or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in fre-» 
quent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to 
our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to impli- 
cate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her 
politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friend- 
ships or enmities. 

Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to 
pursue a different course. If we remain one people, under an 
efficient government, the period is not far off when we may defy 
material injury from external annoyance; when we may take such 
an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve 
upon to be scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations, under 
the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly 
hazard the giving us provocation; when we may choose peace or 
war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel. 

Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why quit 
our own to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving 
our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace 
and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, inter- 
est, humor, or caprice? 

It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with 
any portion of the foreign world: so far, I mean, as we are now 
at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of pat- 
ronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no 
less applicable to public than to priv^ate affairs, that honesty is al- 
ways the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements 
be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is un- 
necessary, and would be unwise to extend them. 

Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable establish- 
ments, on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to 
temporary c.lliances for extraordinary emergencies. 

Harmony, and a liberal intercourse with all nations, are recom- 
mended by policy, humanity, and interest. 

But even our commercial policy should hold an equal and im- 
partial hand; neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or pref- 
erences; consulting the natural course of things; diffusing and 
diversifying by gentle means the streams of commerce, but forcing 
nothing; establishing, with powers so disposed, in order to give 
trade a stable course, to define the rights of our merchants, and to 
enable the government to support them, conventional rules of in- 



xlvi 



HIS TOR V OF THE UNITED ST A TES. 



tercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual opinion 
will permit, but temporary, and liable to be from time to time 
abandoned or varied, as experience and circumstances shall dic- 
tate; constantly keeping in view, that it is folly in one nation to 
look for disinterested favors from another; that it must pay with a 
portion of its independence for whatever it may accept under that 
character; that by such acceptance, it may place itself in the con- 
dition of having given equivalents for nominal favors, and yet of 
being reproached with ingratitude for not giving more. There 
can be no greater error than to expect, or calculate upon, real 
favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion which experience 
must cure, which a just pride ought to discard. 

In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and 
affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong and 
lasting impression I could wish — that they \v\\\ control the usual 
current of the passions, or prevent our nation from running the 
cour^se which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations. But if 
I may even flatter myself that they may be productive of some 
partial benefit, some occasional good; that they may now and then 
recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mis- 
chiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pre- 
tended patriotism; this hope will be a full recompense for the 
solicitude for your welfare by which they have been dictated. 

How far in the discharge of my official duties I have been 
guided by the principles which have been delineated, the public 
records and other evidences of my conduct must witness to you 
and to the world. To myself, the assurance of my own conscience 
is, that I have at least believed myself to be guided by them. 

In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my proclama- 
tion of the 22d of April, 1793, is the index to my pbn. Sanctioned 
by your approving voice, and by that of your Representatives in 
both Houses of Congress, the spirit of that measure has continu- 
ally governed me, uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert 
me from it. 

After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights I 
could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, under all the 
circumstances of the case, had a right to take, and was bound in 
duty and interest to take, a neutral position. Having taken it, I 
determined, as far as should depend upon me, to maintain it with 
moderation, perseverance, and firmness. 

The considerations which respect the right to hold this conduct, 
it is not necessary on this occasion to detail. I will only observe, 
that according to my understanding of the matter, that right, so 
far from being denied by any of the Belligerent Powers, has been 
virtually admitted by all. 



APPENDIX, xlvii 

The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without 
any thing more, from the obligation which justice and humanity 
impose on every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to 
maintain inviolate the relations of peace and amity toward other 
nations. 

The inducements of interest for observing that conduct will best 
be referred to your own reflections and experience. With me, a 
predominant motive has been to endeavor to gain time to our 
country to settle and -mature its yet recent institutions, and to 
progress, without interruption, to that degree of strength and con- 
sistency which is necessary to give it, humanly speaking, the 
command of its own fortunes. 

Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am 
unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of 
my own defects, not to think it probable that I may have commit- 
ted many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the 
Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. 
I shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never 
cease to view them with indulgence; and that after forty-five years 
of my life dedicated to its service, with an upright zeal, the faults 
of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself 
must soon be to the mansions of rest. 

Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and actuated 
by that fervent love toward it, which is so natural to a man who 
views in it the native soil of himself and his progenitors for sev- 
eral generations; I anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat, 
in which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet en- 
joyment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the 
benign influence of good laws under a free government — the ever 
favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of 
our mutual cares, labors, and dangers. 

G. WASHINGTON. 

United States, 
17th September, 1796. 



xlviii JII STORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



APPENDIX F. 



PROCLAMATION OF EMANCIPATION. 

Whereas, On the 22d day of September, in the year of our Lord 
one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was 
issued by the President of the United States, containing, among 
other things, the following, to wit: 

'* That on the ist day of January, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves 
within any state or designated part of a state, the people whereof 
shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, 
thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government 
of the United States, including the military and naval authority 
thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, 
and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, 
in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. 

" That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, 
by proclamation, designate the states and parts of states, if any, 
in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebel- 
lion against the United States; and the fact that any state, or the 
people thereof, shall on that day be in good faith represented in 
the Congress of the United States, by members chosen thereto at 
elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such state 
shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong counter- 
vailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such state, 
and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the 
United States." 

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United 
States, by virtue of the power in me vested as commander-in- 
chief of the army and navy of the United States in time of actual 
armed rebellion against the authority and government of the 
United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for sup- 
pressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the 
year of your Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, 



APPENDIX. xlix 

and in accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed 
for the full period of one hundred days from the day first above 
mentioned, order and designate, as the states and parts of states 
wherein the people thereof, respectively, are this day in rebellion 
against the United States, the following, to wit: 

Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the parishes of St. Bernard, 
Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascen- 
sion, Assumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, Ste. Marie, St. Martin, 
and Orleans, including the city of New Orleans), Mississippi, 
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and 
Virginia (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Vir- 
ginia, and also the counties of Berkeley. Accomac, Northampton, 
Elizabeth City, York, Princess Anne, and Norfolk, including the 
cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and which excepted parts are. 
for the present, left precisely as if this proclamation were not 
issued. 

And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do 
order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said des- 
ignated states and parts of states are, and henceforward shall be 
free; and that the Executive Government of the United States, in- 
cluding the naval and military authorities thereof, will recognize 
and maintain the freedom of said persons. 

And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to 
abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defense; and I 
recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor 
faithfully for reasonable wages. 

And I further declare and make known that such persons, of 
suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the 
United States, to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other 
places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. 

And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, 
warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke 
the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of 
Almighty God. 

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my name, and caused 
the seal of the United States to be afhxed. 

Done at the city of Washington, this first day of January, in 
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, 
and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

By the Presidefit: 

William H. Seward, 

Secretary of State. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



APPENDIX G. 



CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY OF UNITED 
STATES HISTORY. 

gS6. Herjulfson discovers America, 

1492. Columbus discovers the West Indies. 

1497. North America discovered by the Cabots. 

1498. South America discovered by Columbus. 

1512. Ponce de Leon discovers Florida. 

1513. Balboa discovers the Pacific Ocean. 
1517. Cordova discovers Yucatan. 

1520. D'Ayllon discovers Carolina. 

1521. Cortes conquers Mexico. 
1524. Verrazzano explores the coast. 
1528. Narvaez visits Florida. 

1534. Cartier discovers the St. Lawrence. 

1541. De Soto discovers the Mississippi. 

1562. The Huguenots attempt to colonize Florida. 

1565. St. Augustine founded. 

1579. Drake explores western coast of North America. 

1585-7. Raleigh's attempts to colonize Carolina. 

1602. Gosnold explores Massachusetts coast. 

1605. De Monts founds Port Royal. 

1607. Jamestown founded. 

1608. Quebec founded by Champlain. 

1609. Hudson River discovered. 
1614. New York settled by the Dutch. 

1619. Slavery introduced in Virginia. 

1620. Plymouth settled. 
1623. New Hampshire settled. 
1626. Maine settled. 

1630. Boston founded. 

1633. Connecticut settled at Windsor. 

1634. Maryland settled at St. Mary's. 



APPENDIX. li 

1636. Rhode Island settled at Providence. 

1637. Pequod War in Connecticut. 

1638. Delaware settled at Wilmington. 
1643. New England Confederacy formed. 
1650. North Carolina settled. 

1664. The English take New York. 

New Jersey settled at Elizabethtown. 

1670. South Carolina settled. 

1673. Joliet and Marquette on the Mississippi. 

1675. King Philip's War begins. 

1682. Philadelphia founded. 

La Salle descends the Mississippi. 

1689. King William's War begins. 

1690. Port Royal captured. 
1697. The treaty of Ryswick. 
1702. Queen Anne's War begins. 
1710. Port Royal captured. 
1713. The treaty of Utrecht. 

1732. George Washington born Feb. 22. 

1733- Georgia settled at Savannah. 

1744. King George's War begins. 

1745. Louisburg captured. 

1748. The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, 

1754. The French and Indian War begins. 

1755. Braddock's defeat July 9. 

The French expelled from Acadia. 

1756. Oswego captured by the French. 

1757. Fort William Henry surrendered to the French. 

1758. Abercrorabie defeated at Ticonderoga. 
Louisburg taken by Amherst. 

Forts Frontenac and Duquesne captured by the English. 

1759. Fort Niagara captured by the English. 
Amherst occupies Ticonderoga. 

Battle of the Plains of Abraham Sept. 13. 

Quebec surrendered to the English. 

1760. Montreal captured by the English. 
1763. The treaty of Paris. 

Pontiac's conspiracy. 

1765. Stamp Act passed by Parliament. 

1766. Stamp Act repealed. 

1767. Another tax act passed. 
1770. The Boston massacre. 

1773. The " Boston Tea-party." 

1774. The Boston Port Bill passed. 
Colonial Congress meets in Philadelphia. 



in HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

1775. Battle of Lexington. April 19. 

Washington appointed commander-in-chief. 

Battle of Bunker Hill June 17. 

Montgomery defeated at Quebec Dec. 31. 

1776. Boston evacuated by the British March 17. 

British repulsed at Fort Moultrie June 28. 

Declaration of Independence adopted July 4. 

Battle of Long Island Aug. 27. 

Battle of White Plains Oct. 28. 

Hessians surprised at Trenton Dec. 26. 

1777. Battle of Princeton Jan. 3. 

Burgoyne captures Ticonderoga July 5. 

Battle of Bennington Aug. 16. 

Battle of the Brandy wine Sept. 11. 

Battle of Bemis' Heights Sept. 19. 

Howe occupies Philadelphia Sept. 26. 

Battle of Saratoga Oct. 7. 

Burgoyne surrenders Oct. 17. 

1778. France acknowledges independence of the United States. 

The British evacuate Philadelphia June 18. 

Battle of Monmouth June 28. 

Wyoming massacre July- 
Cherry Valley massacre Nov. 

The British capture Savannah Dec. 29. 

1779. Battle of Stono Ferry June 20. 

Wayne captures Stony Point July 15. 

Paul Jones captures the Sei-apis Sept. 23. 

Americans repulsed at Savannah Oct. 9. 

1780. Charleston capitulates to the British ., May 12. 

Battle of Sander's Creek Aug. 16. 

Arnold's treason. 

Battle of King's Mountain Oct. 7. 

1781. Mutiny of American troops. 

Battle of the Covvpens Jan. 17. 

Greene's retreat. 

Articles of Confederation go into effect. 

Battle ot Guilford Court House March 15. 

Battle of Hobkirk's Hill .April 25. 

Massacre at Fort Griswold Sept. 6. 

Battle of Eutaw Springs Sept. 8. 

Surrender of Cornwallis Oct. 19. 

1782. Preliminary treaty of peace. 

1783. The treaty of Paris Sept. 3. 

New York evacuated by the British Nov. 25. 

Washington resigns his commission. Dec. 23. 



APPENDIX. liii 

1786. Shay's rebellion. 

1787. . The Constitution framed. 

1789. Washington inaugurated April 30. 

1790. Harmar defeated by the Indians. 

1791. Bank of the United States chartered. 
Vermont admitted to the Union. 

St. Clair defeated by the Indians. 

1792. Kentucky admitted to the Union. 
1794. Wayne defeats the Indians. 

Whisky rebellion. 
1795- Jay's treaty with Great Britain. 

1796. Tennessee admitted to the Union. 

1797. Adams inaugurated March 4. 

1799. Death of Washington Dec. 14. 

1800. Washington becomes the capital. 

1801. Jefferson inaugurated March 4. 

1802. Ohio admitted to the Union, 

1803. Louisiana purchased. 

War with the Barbary States. 

1804. Duel between Hamilton and Burr. 

1805. Peace with Tripoli. 

1807. Fulton invents the steamboat. 

The Leopard and the Chesapeake. 

Embargo Act passed. 
1809. Madison inaugurated March 4. 

181 1. The President and the Little Belt. 

Battle of Tippecanoe with the Indians Nov. 7. 

1812. Louisiana admitted to the Union. 

War declared with England June 19. 

Hull invades Canada July. 

Hull surrenders Detroit Aug. 16. 

The Constitution and the Guerriere Aug. 19. 

1813. Americans capture York April 27. 

The Shannon and the Chesapeake June I. 

British repulsed at Fort Stephenson Aug. 2. 

Creek War begins Aug. 30. 

Battle of Lake Erie Sept. 10. 

English defeated on the Thames Oct. 5. 

Battle of Chrysler's Field Nov. 11. 

1814. Creek War ended March 27. 

Fort Erie captured by the Americans July 3. 

Battle of Lundy's Lane July 25. 

The British enter Washington Aug. 24. 

Battle of Lake Champlain Sept. 1 1 . 

Battle ot Plattsburg Sept. 1 1 . 



liv HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 

1814. British repulsed at Fort McHenry Sept. 13. 

Jackson attacks Pensacola Nov. 6. 

The Hartford convention Dec. 

Treaty of Ghent signed Dec. 24. 

1815. Battle of New Orleans Jan. 8. 

Peace proclaimed Feb. 18. 

War with Algiers. 

1816. Bank of the United States rechartered. 
Indiana admitted to the Union. 

1817. Monroe inaugurated March 4. 

Mississippi admitted to the Union. 

1818. Illinois admitted to the Union. 

1819. Alabama admitted to the Union, 
Florida purchased. 

1820. The Missouri Compromise. 
Maine admitted to the Union. 

1821. Missouri admitted to the Union. 

1824. Lafayette visits the United States. 

1825. John Quincy Adams inaugurated March 4. 

1829. Jackson inaugurated March 4. 

1832. Black Hawk War. 

Nullifiers in South Carolina. 

1835. Seminole War begins. 

Fire in New York Dec. 16. 

The Dade massacre Dec. 28. 

1836. Arkansas admitted to the Union. 

1837. Michigan admitted to the Union. 

Van Buren inaugurated March 4. 

A panic occurred. 

Battle of Okeechobee with the Seminoles Dec. 25. 

1841. Harrison inaugurated March 4. 

Death of Harrison April 4. 

Tyler inaugurated April 6. 

1842. Seminole War ended. 
Dorr rebellion. 

1844. First telegraph line established. 

1845. Florida admitted to the Union. 

Polk inaugurated March 4. 

Texas admitted to the Union. 
184^. Battle of Palo Alto May 8. 

Battle of Resaca de la Palma May 9. 

Monterey surrenders Sept. 24. 

Iowa admitted to the Union. 
1847. Battle of Buena Vista Feb. 23. 

Scott captures Vera Cruz March 27 



APPENDIX. Iv 

1847. Battle of Cerro Gordo April 18. 

Contreras and Cherubusco taken Aug. 20. 

Molino del Rey taken Sept, 8. 

Chapultepec taken Sept. 13. 

Scott enters Mexico Sept. 14. 

1848. Treaty of peace signed Feb. 2. 

Wisconsin admitted to the Union. 

1849. Taylor inaugurated March 5. 

1850. Death of Taylor July 9, 

Fillmore inaugurated July 10. 

California admitted to the Union. 

Fugitive slave law passed Sept. 9. 

1853. Pierce inaugurated March 4. 

1854. Kansas-Nebraska bill passed. 

1857. Buchanan inauguarated March 4. 

1858. Minnesota admitted to the Union. 
Atlantic cable laid. 

1859. Oregon admitted to the Union. 
John Brown's raid. 

i860. South Carolina secedes Dec. 20. 

1861. Ten other southern states secede. 
Kansas admitted to the Union. 
Confederate States organized. 

Lincoln inaugurated March 4. 

Fort Sumter bombarded April 12-13. 

Battle of Big Bethel June 10. 

Battle of Bull Run July 21. 

Battle of Belmont Nov. 7. 

Mason and Slidell seized Nov. 8. 

1862. Fort Donelson captured Feb. 16. 

Battle of Pea Ridge March 8. 

The Monitor and the Merrimac March 9. 

Battle of Shiloh April C-7. 

Island Number Ten captured April 7. 

Fort Pulaski captured April 11. 

New Orleans captured April 25. 

Battle of Fair Oaks, or Seven Pines May 31-June i. 

Memphis surrenders to the Federals June 6. 

The Seven Days' battle June 25-July i. 

Battle of Cedar Mountain Aug. g. 

Battles between Manassas and Washington Aug. 

Lee invades Maryland Sept. 

Battle of South Mountain Sept. 14 

Battle of Antietam Sept. 17. 

Battle of luka Springs Sept. 19. 



Ivi HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

1S62. Battle of Corinth Oct. 3-4. 

Battle of Fredericksburg Dec. 13. 

Battle of Murfreesboro begins Dec. 31. 

1863. Emancipation Proclamation Jan. i. 

Battle of Murfreesboro ends Jan. 2. 

Grant's victory at Port Gibson May i. 

Battle of Chancellorsville May 2-3. 

West Virginia admitted to the Union. 

Morgan's raid June-July. 

Battle of Gettysburg July 1-3. 

Vicksburg capitulates July 4. 

Port Hudson surrenders July 8. 

Draft riots in New York July 13-16. 

Battle of Chickamauga Sept. 19-20. 

. Battle of Chattanooga Nov. 25, 

1864. Grant commissioned lieutenant-general March 8. 

Red River expedition March-April. 

Fort Pillow captured April 12. 

Battle of the Wilderness May 5-6. 

Battles near Spottsylvania May 9-12. 

The Kcarsai-ge sinks the Alabama June 19. 

Early's raid into Maryland July. 

Battles before Atlanta July 20, 22, 28. 

Farragut's victory in Mobile Bay Aug. 5. 

Sherman enters Atlanta Sept. 2. 

Battle of Winchester Sept. 19. 

Battle of Fisher's Hill Sept. 22. 

Battle of Cedar Creek Oct. 19. 

Nevada admitted to the Union. 

Confederates repulsed at Franklin Nov. 30. 

Federals successful at Nashville Dec. 15-16. 

Sherman occupies Savannah Dec. 21. 

1865. Fort Fisher captured Jan. 15. 

Sherman occupies Columbia Feb. 17. 

Federals enter Charleston Feb. 18. 

Battle of Averysborough March 16. 

Battle of Five Forks April i. 

Federals enter Richmond and Petersburg April 3. 

Lee's surrender .April g. 

President Lincoln assassinated April 14. 

Johnson inaugurated April 15. 

Johnston's surrender April 26. 

Jefferson Davis captured May 10. 

Slavery declared abolished Dec. 18. 

1866. Permanent Atlantic cable laid. 



APPENDIX. Ivii 

1867. Nebraska admitted to the Union. 
Alaska purchased. 

1868. President Johnson impeached. 

Johnson acquitted May 26. 

Fourteenth Amendment declared adopted July. 

1S69. Grant inaugurated ^slarch 4. 

1870. Fifteenth Amendment declared adopted March. 

Work of reconstruction completed March. 

1871. Fire in Chicago. 

1872. Settlement of Alabama Claims. 
Fire in Boston. 

Credit Mobilier scandal. 

1873. Trouble with Modoc Indians settled. 

1876. Centennial Exposition opened May 10. 

Custer massacre June 25. 

Colorado admitted to the Union. 

1877. The Electoral Commission. 
Railroad strikes. 

Trouble with the Nez Perce Indians. 

1878. Bland Silver Bill passed. 
Yellow fever in the south. 

1879. Specie payments resumed Jan. i. 

Trouble with the Ute Indians. 

1881. Garfield inaugurated March 4. 

The President assassinated July 2. 

Death of Garfield Sept. 19. 

Arthur inaugurated Sept. 20. 

1882. Star Route trials. 

Guiteau executed June. 

Chinese immigration prohibited. 

1883. East River Bridge completed. 
Civil Service Bill passed. 
New tariff bill passed. 

1884. Rescue of the Greeley arctic expedition. 

World's Fair opened in New Orleans Dec. 

1885. Cleveland inaugurated March 4. 

Death of General Grant July 23. 

1886. Labor troubles and strikes. 



Iviii 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



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Index 



PAGE 

Abenaki Indians 163 

Abercrombie, General 212 

Acadia 56 

Adams, John 312, 324 

John Quincy 367 

Alabama Claims 501 

Alaska, Purchase of 496 

Algonquins • 24 

Alien and Sedition laws 326 

Allen, Ethan 248 

Amendments, The slavery 494 

Amerigo Vespucci ... 38 

Amidas and Barlow 65 

Andre, Major 296 

Andros, Sir Edmund 126 

Anti-Masonic excitement 369 

Aquidneck 160 

Arctic expeditions '. 407 

Argall. Captain 90 

Arlington, Earl of 99 

Arnold, Benedict 247 

Treason of 294 

raid into Connecticut 299 

Articles of Confederation 300 

Ashburton Treaty 386 

Bacon. Nathaniel lOO 

Bacon's rebellion loi 

Balboa 42 

Baltimore, Lord 178 

Soldiers attacked in. . ^ 43^ 

Bank of North America founded 298 

Bankrupt- Act 49^ 

Banks, General 458 



Ixiv HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

PAGE 

Barcla3\ Robert 170 

Battles of the Civil War — 

Antietam 453 

Belmont 442 

Big Sandy River 444 

Boonville "*. 441 

Bull Run—first 438 

second 453 

Carthage 441 

Cedar Mountain 453 

Chickamauga 462 

Corinth 448 

Cross Keys 450 

Front Royal 450 

Gettysburg 460 

Hatteras Inlet 442 

Island Number Ten 446 

luka Springs 447 

Lookout Mountain 463 

Malvern Hill 452 

Marye's Hill 454 

Mechanicsville 452 

Mill Spring 444 

Murf reesboro 445 

Perryville *. 447 

Philippi 437 

Savage's Station 452 

Shiloh (Pittsburg Landing) 445 

Stone River 44S 

Vicksburg 457 

Waynesboro 480 

Wilderness 458 

Wilson's Creek. 441 

Battles of the French and Indian War — 

Crown Point 211 

Fort Duquesne 208 

Battles of the Mexican War — 

Bracito 39^ 

Buena Vista 397 

Cerro Gordo 398 

Chapultepec 399 

Cherubusco 399 

Molino del Rey 399 

Monterey 395 



INDEX. Ixv 

Battles of the Mexican War — j-age 

Palo Alto 203 

Resaca de la Palma .'......... -93 

Sacramento Creek 006 

Vera Cruz ' ^ ^ " ^08 

Battles of the Revolution — ' 

Bennington 273 

Brandyvvine 071; 

Bunker Hill ".'.".".'.'.'.!".".*.!".'.'.'.'. ' 250 

Concord 247 

Covvpens .'!'.'.'!!!."!.'!.' 299 

Germantown 276 

Green Springs 303 

Guilford Court- House 300 

Hanging Rock 292 

King's Mountain 294 

Lexington 247 

Long Island 262 

Monmouth 281 

Paulus Hook 288 

Princeton 268 

Saratoga 273 

Savannah 285 

Stony Point 288 

Trenton.... 266 

White Plains 264 

Yorktovvn 304 

Battles of the War of 1812 — 

Chrysler's Field 349 

Lundy's Lane 353 

New Orleans 357 

Plattsburg 35_j^ 

Sackett's Harbor 349 

Bellomont, Earl of 14S 

Berkeley, Sir William gS 

Berlin Decree .'. -,94 

Black Hawk War V. . V. .. V. ■■.■.".'.* 374 

Black Friday 499 

Bland Silver Bill 508 

Block, Adrian 71 

Bloody Brook 123 

Body of Liberties 116 

Bon Hotiime Richard, The 289 

Booth, John Wilkes 483 

Boscawen, Admiral 216 



Ixvi HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



i'AGE 



Boston, Evacuation of 25S 

founded 112 

massacre 243 

' ' Tea-party " 244 

Braddock, General 206 

Bradford, William 109 

Brock, General 341 

Brown, John 418 

Brown's raid 418 

Buchanan, James 415 

Burgoyne, General ^^. 272 

Surrender of 273 

Burnside, General 454 

Burr, Aaron 319 

duel with Hamilton 333 

trial for treason 334 

Burroughs, George 130 

Butler, Benjamin F., General 446 

Cable, Atlantic 416 

Cabot, John 38 

Sebastian 39 

Cabrillo 49 

Calhoun, John C 340 

Call for troops, First 436 

Canonicus 109 

Captain Kidd 148 

Capture of Atlanta 47° 

Fort Henry 445 

Lexington 44^ 

Mobile 476 

New Orleans 447 

Savannah 47° 

the Alalniiiia 47^ 

Vicksburg 457 

Yorkiown 451 

Carteret, Sir George 167 

Cartier, Jacques 52 

Carver, John 107 

Cayugas 24 

Census, First 320 

Second 33^ 

of 1840 3S1 

of 1870 500 

of 18S0 510 



INDEX. Ixvii 

PAGE 

Champlain, Samuel de 57 

Charleston, Siege of 291 

Charter Oak I57 

Cherokees 24 

Civil Rights Bill 494 

Clayborne, William 177 

Clay, Henry 34° 

Clennont, The 33^ 

Cleveland, Grover 521 

Marriage of 525 

Coddington, William i6r 

Colonial Union 205 

Columbia, Burning of 479 

Columbus 30 

Comanches 25 

Confederate cruisers 477 

government. Formation of 421 

Congress, First 240 

Connecticut Colony ii4> ^52 

Conscription Act passed 4^5 

Constitutional Convention 310 

Constitution, Ratification of 312 

Convention of Associates i S2 

Cordova, Fernandez de 43 

Corey, Giles 130 

Cornbury, Lord I49 

Cornwallis, Lord 300 

Surrender of 301 

Coronado 49 

Cortereal, Caspar 49 

Cortes 43 

Cotton Mather 130 

Craig, Sir James 340 

Cranfield. Edward 164 

Credit Mobilier scandal 502 

Creek Indians 25 

Trouble with 348 

Cromwell, Oliver 9^ 

Culpepper, John 1S5 

Lord 98 

Dakotas 25 

Dale. Sir Thomas 89 

Danbury. Burning of 270 

Darrah, Lydia 277 



Ixviii HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

PAGE 

Davis, Jefferson 421 

Dearborn, Henry 340 

Debt of the United States 485 

Decatur, Commodore 359 

Declaration of Independence 260 

Deerfield, Burning of 122 

De Kalb, Baron 271 

Death of 293 

De la Roque 53 

De la Salle, Robert 58 

De la Ware, Lord 87 

De Soto 46 

D'Estaing, Admiral, and fleet 281 

Detroit, Surrender of 341 

Dieskau, General 210 

Discovery of gold in California 401 

Dominique de Gourgues 55 

Dorr's rebellion 386 

Dougan, Thomas 145 

Draft riots in New York 465 

Drake, Sir Francis 63 

Dred Scott case 416 

Drummond, William 183 

Dudley, Joseph 125 

Dustin, Hannah 129 

Dutch West India Company. . , 136 

Dyar, Mary 119 

Early's raid 474 

Election of first President, George Washington 312 

John Adams 323 

Thomas Jefferson ♦ 328 

Jame,s Madison 336 

James Monroe 360 

John Quincy Adams 366 

Andrew Jackson 370 

Martin Van Buren 377 

William H. Harrison 382 

Succession of John Tyler , 383 

James K. Polk 389 

Zachary Taylor 402 

Succession of Millard Fillmore 406 

Franklin Pierce 408 

James Buchanan 414 

Abraham Lincoln 420 

Succession of Andrew Johnson .,,,... 483 



INDEX. Ixix 



PAGE 



Election of Ulysses S. Grant 49^ 

Rutherford B. Hayes 505 

James A. Garfield 510 

Succession of Chester A. Arthur 516 

Grover Cleveland 520 

Electoral Commission 5^5 

Embargb Act 33^ 

Embassadors to France 279 

Era of good feeling 3^1 

Erie Canal opened 3^8 

Farragut, Admiral 44^ 

Federalist, The 3ii 

Ferdinand and Isabella 34 

Filibustering in Central America 410 

in Cuba 4o6 

Fire in New York, Great 376 

Fisheries difficulty 4o8 

Five Nations, The 25 

Fletcher, Benjamin • 147 

Florida, Purchase of 3^4 

Foote, Commodore 445 

Fort Duquesne, Expedition against 218 

Frontenac, Capture of 218 

Lee, Surrender of 264 

Moultrie, Attack on •. 259 

Necessity 204 

Niagara, Expedition against 210 

Orange 136 

Sumter, Attack on 422, 436 

Ticonderoga, Assault on • • • 217 

Capture of •• 249 

Washington, Attack on 264 

William Henry, Surrender of 214 

Fountain of Youth 42 

Franklin, Benjamin 205, 279 

Fremont, John C 39° 

French capture of St. Augustine 55 

Frobisher, Martin 63 

Fugitive-slave law 405 

Fulton, Robert, and the steamboat 33^ 

" Fundamental Constitution " 184 

Gadsden Purchase 409 

Garfield, James A 444, 5i4 

Assassination of,, 5i5 



Ixx HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



PAGE 



Garrison, William Lloyd. 430 

Gates, General 275, 293 

Sir Thomas go 

Gilbert, Sir Humphrey •. 64 

Gist, Christopher 202 

Godyn, Samuel • 137 

Gofie, General 123 

Gosnold, Bartholomew 67 

Grant, Ulysses S., General 442, 445, 448, 457, 462 

appointed lieutenant-general 467 

captures Richmond 471 

Death of 522 

elected President 496 

Greene, General 294 

Great retreat of 300 

Grenville, Sir Richard 65 

Guiteau, the assassin 516 

Half Moon, The 69 

Hamilton, Alexander • 311, 318 

duel with Burr 333 

Financial measures of 318 

H arrison, General 339, 383 

Hartford Convention 356 

Harvard College founded 115 

Harvey, John ^ 95 

Hayes, Rutherford B 506 

Hazen, General 44S 

Henry affair, The 340 

Herjulfson 28 

Herkimer, General 273 

Hood, General 4^8 

Hooker, General Joseph 458 

Howe, General 257 

Hudson, Sir Henry 69 

Huguenot settlements 48, 54 

Hull, William, General 34i 

Hurons 24 

Hutchinson . Anne 114 

Indiana admitted into the Union 359 

Indians 19 

Customs of 22 

Language of 24 

Races of 24 

Religion of 23 

Tribes of,. , . , 1 m 1 1 1 1 1 • 1 24 



INDEX, Ixxi 

I'AGE 

Ingoldsby , Richard 146 

Insurrection in Canada 381 

Invention of the telegraph 390 

Iroquois Indians 24 

Jackson, Andrew, General 357. 37i 

Jamestown, Colony of 88 

Settlement of 81 

Jay, John 322 

Jefferson, Thomas 318, 329 

disagreement with Hamilton 322 

Johnson, Andrew 493 

Impeachment of 495 

Joliet, Louis 58 

Jones, Paul 289 

Kansas, Struggle in 413 

Kansas-Nebraska Bill 4^3 

Karlsefne 28 

Kearney, General 395 

Kieft. William 138 

Klamaths i 25 

Knox, Henry 318 

Kossuth, Louis 408 

Koszta, Martin 412 

Labrador 49 

Lafayette, Marquis de 271 

Lane, Ralph 65 

Laudonniere t^ 55 

Ledra, William 119 

Lee. Robert E., General 452 

Lessler, Jacob 146 

Liberator, The 430 

Liberty-bell 261 

Liberty-tree 239 

Lincoln, Abraham 434 

Assassination of 483 

Emancipation Proclamation of 456 

London Company, The 79 

Loudoun, Earl of 212 

Louisburg, Expedition against I33 

Louisiana, Purchase of 33° 

admitted into the Union 338 

Lovelace, Lord I49 

Madison, James 337 

Magellan 44 



Ixxii HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



PAGE 



Marion, General 292 

Markham, William 174 

Marquette, Jacques 58 

Mason and Dixon 176 

and Slidell 442 

John 154 

Massachusetts Bay Company iii 

Massasoit , 109 

Mather, Cotton , 130 

-Maximilian, The Emperor 492 

May, Cornelius 136 

MayJlo7iier, The 106 

McClellan, George B., General 440, 451 

Meade, General George C 460 

Menendez de Aviles 48 

Mexico. Conquest of 43 

Miami Indians 320 

Milan Decree 335 

Minuit, Peter 137 

Minute-men 245 

Mississippi River, Discovery of 47 

Missouri Compromise, The 364 

Mobile taken by Farragut 476 

Mobilians 25 

Modoc Indians, Trouble with 502 

Mohawks 24 

Monitor and Merritnac 449 

Monroe, James 361 

Doctrine 365 

Montcalm, Marquis of 212 

Montezuma 43 

Mormons, The 387 

Trouble with the 415 

Morris, Robert 296 

Mound-builders 25 

Mutiny of troops 297 

Naval engagements — 

Ai'g us and Pelican 350 

Battle of Lake Erie 346 

Boxer and Enterprise 350 

Chesapeake and Leopard 335 

Chesapeake and Shantio.i 350 

Constitution and Guerriere 342 

Constitution 2iX\dJava 343 



INDEX. . Ixxiii 

Naval engagements — i'age 

Essex and Phccbe 352 

Hornet and Peacock 350 

Piesident and Little Belt 33S 

United States and ATacedonian 343 

Wasp and Frolic 343 

Negro plot in New York 150 

New Amsterdam 136 

Newfoundland fisheries 509 

New France 52 

Newport tower 28 

Newspapers in the colonies 228 

Nicholson, Francis 146 

NicoUs, Richard 141, 143 

Nipmuck Indians. 122 

Non-Intercourse Act 338 

Norsemen 27 

Northwest boundary 401 

Oglethorpe, James 194 

Ohio admitted into the Union. 330 

Ohio Company 202 

Omnibus Bill 405 

Oneida Indians 24 

Onondaga Indians 24 

" On to Washington " 437 

Orders in Council 334 

Ostend Manifesto, The 412 

Otis, James . . 238 

Pacific Railroad, Opening of 499 

Panic of 1837 378 

of 1873 503 

Papal bull 62 

Patrick Henry 246 

Penn, William 169, 172 

Pequod Indians 154 

Percy, Sir George 83 

Perry, Commodore 346 

Personal-liberty laws 418 

Peru, Conquest of 45 

Philadelphia, Founding of 174 

Philip, King 121 

Phipps, Sir William 129 

Pierce, Franklin 409 

Pilgrims 105 

Pitcairn, Major 247 



Ixxiv HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



PAGE 



Pizarro 45 

Plymouth Colony 103 

Company, The 79 

Rock 107 

Pocahontas • 85, go 

Polk, James K 3gi 

Ponce de Leon 42 

Pontiac 223 

Pope, General 446 

Population of the colonies 229 

Port Royal, Expedition against 132 

Powhatan 85 

Preble, Commodore 332 

Prescott, Colonel 250 

Prevost, General 285 

Pring, Martin 68 

Proclamation of amnesty 492 

Providence Plantations 159 

Puritans, The 105 

Putnam, General 251 

at Horse Neck 2S7 

Quakers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania 169 

Persecution of 118 

Quebec, Assault by Arnold on 254 

Taking of 220 

Railroad, First 377 

Raleigh, Sir Walter 65 

Ratclif^e 82 

Raymbault, Charles 58 

Religious dissension in Maryland colony 181 

freedom established in Maryland colony. 180 

Regicides, The 119 

Revere, Paul 246 

Roanoke Island, Settlement of 65 

Lost Colony of 67 

Robinson, William 119 

Rodrigo de Triana 36 

Rolfe, John 90 

Rosecrans, General 447 

Retreat across New Jersey 264 

of Greene 300 

Ribault, Jean 54 

Samoset 108 

San Salvador 36 



INDEX, IXXV 

PAGE 

Santa Anna, General 395 

Santa Fe, Settlement of 49 

Sassacus 1 54 

Schuyler. General 272 

Scott, Winfield 397 

Secession of southern states 421 

Seizure of American sailors 335 

Seminoles 25 

Trouble with 362 

War with 375 

Senecas 24 

Seven Days' battle 452 

Shay's rebellion 3^1 

Sheridan. General P. H 474 

Sherman. General W. T 466 

march to the sea 4^6 

Shoshone Indians 25 

Siege of Fort Niagara 219 

of Louisburg 217 

Slavery. Introduction of . 92 

the cause of the Civil War 427 

Sloughter, Colonel 146 

Smith, John 80, 103 

Joseph 337 

South Carolina and the tariff 374 

Specie Circular 379 

Speediueil, The. 106 

Squatter sovereignty 4i3 

Stamp Act 239 

Standish. Miles 108 

Stark. Colonel 273 

' ' Star-Spangled Banner. " Composition of 35^ 

" Starving-Time." The 88 

St. Augustine, Settlement of 42 

St. Clair, General 320 

Stephens, Alexander 421 

Stephenson, Marmaduke 119 

Stocks, The 227 

Stuyvesant, Peter I39 

Sumner, Assault on 4^9 

Sumptuary laws in the colonies 226 

Sumter. General 292 

Surratt. Mrs 483 

Surrender of Lee 482 



Ixxvi HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

PAGE 

Tanacharisson 202 

Tariff discussion ... 371, 374 

Tax acts in the colonies 238 

Taylor, Zachary, General 392, 403 

Tecumseh 338 

Texas, Independence of 389 

admission into the Union 389 

Thomas. General 444 

" Tippecanoe and Tyler too." 382 

Tippecanoe, Battle of 339 

Traveling in the colonies 228 

Treaty of Ghent 358 

of Paris 307 

with Japan 410 

with Napoleon 326 

with Spain 323 

Trouble with France. 321, 325 

Underhill, John 139 

United Colonies of New England 115 

United States Bank 372 

Valley Forge 277 

Van Buren, Martin 378 

Vane, Sir Henry 113 

Vasco da Gama 37 

Verrazzano, Giovanni 51 

Vespucci, Amerigo 38 

Vessels of Columbus 34 

Walker, Sir Hovenden 149 

William, General 410 

Walloons 136 

Wampanoags 109 

Ward, Nathaniel 116 

War with the Barbary States 332 

with Algiers 359 

Washington in the French and Indian War 203 

commander-in-chief 252 

crosses the Delaware 266 

Death of 327 

declines a third term 323 

elected President 312 

farewell to troops 30S 

retreat across New Jersey 264 

Burning of 355 

City of, made capital 327 



INDEX. ' Ixxvii 

PAGE 

Wayne, General 320 

West, Francis 95 

Whisky rebellion 322 

White, John 66 

William and Mary College loi 

Williams, Roger 112, I59 

Wilmot Proviso, The 402 

Wingfield. Edward. . . 80 

Winthrop, John 112 

Witchcraft 130 

Wolfe, General 220 

Worth, General 394 

Wouter van Twiller 137 

Wyatt, Sir Francis 9^ 

Wyoming massacre 282 

Yale College 158 

Yamassee Indians 192 

Yeardley, Sir George Qi 

Yorktovvn, Siege and capture of 304 



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